Still Abnormal As Ever
by AdorkablyUncensored
Summary: Even in a universe where the Turtles aren't turtles, but human, Alex is still fated to meet them. What will happen as she and the boys, as well as her best friend Kerry, go on and run into trouble with martial arts, school, bullies and perhaps death? Will they stick together and pull through or fall apart?
1. The Beginning

**Disclaimer: We don't own anything TMNT. Just our OC's.**

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Chapter 1

The Beginning

Alex walked into the cafeteria twenty minutes into her lunch period with her paper bagged lunch in hand, her backpack handing over her shoulder as she made her way to her usual lunch table with her friends. She dropped the bag down on the table, sat down and laid her head down with an exaggerated huff.

There were seven other people at their table, three boys and four girls. Phoebe, a foreign exchange student from England. Rudy, a german exchange student that had taken a liking to the English girl sitting next to him. Emily and Kiley, the twins that often finished each others sentences. Erik, who happened to be Kiley's boyfriend, thanks to an introduction by Alex herself.

Fred, who was Alex's childhood best friend growing up, who was slightly jealous of her new kindling best friendship with Kerry, who just so happened to be the oldest of the group, a Native American girl from Texas, often dubbed the freaky new kid in school. She was in Alex's art class and the two hit it off, despite the girls more, scary appearance, with her short hair and extra ear piercings. Not to mention her love of leather jackets.

"Is everything alright, Lex?" Phoebe asked, placing a hand on Alex's arm in concern from her seat across the table.

"Why did Mr. Scouton want to talk to you after class?" Fred asked. "It's not like you're failing, you have a B in his class, which is better than pretty much everybody."

"Da man's got it out fer redheads," Erik said, taking Alex's lunch and picking out the cookies she always packed in it for him.

"Psh. You don't mess with a redheads, Eric," Kerry scoffed, her accent slowly fading the longer she hung out with them. "Good way to end up in a cornfield."

"Or the sewers," Kiley said. "I hear he was engaged to a redhead once, she called it off. That's why he hates all redheads."

"That sounds stupid. I'm not saying he has nothing against Lexi but hair color, I think, would be the last thing he'd be focused on." Kerry shrugged.

"Maybe zat vas vat attracted him in zee first place," Rudy said.

"He may just hold a grudge," Emily said. "I had this boyfriend once that would always bite his lip, I can't take another guy that bites his lip since!"

"So a psychological trigger?" Kerry asked.

"Can we not talk about Mr. Scouton having a thing for redheads?" Alex asked, sitting up. She ran a hand through her hair, pushing it behind her ear so it wouldn't fall into her face. "It kind of creeps me out."

"I don't blame you," Kerry scoffed she bumped her with her elbow. "You sure he didn't do anything, darlin'?"

"I swear, Lexa, if he did anything I'll kill him," Fred said, shaking his head.

"Calm down, Freddy. He didn't do anything," Alex told him. "He asked me to tutor this home schooled kid. Said the dad called the school to see if he could get someone good. Apparently Scouton things I'm good enough to tutor the guy."

"Really? that doesn't sound too bad!" Kerry smirked. "'Sides, you're good with people Lexi."

"Yeah, but I already work two jobs," Alex said. "I work three nights a week at my parents dojo, and almost every day at Aunt April's antique store. Then there are martial arts competitions. Those in tutoring some guy and I'm never going to pass any of my classes!"

"We could help you," Kerry assured her. "I mean, I can ask your parents if I could take over your shifts at the dojo, I'm a high enough level to teach the youngins." Kerry said. She had joined the dojo soon after Alex had told her about it, having done martial arts back home. It was something else the girls just connected over.

"Or I could," Fred pressed. "I mean, I know your parents better and your brothers and I get along great.."

Alex rolled her eyes. _Here we go again,_ she thought. Ever since Alex and Kerry had become friends that year, Fred had become rather possessive of Alex, feeling his relationship with the redhead was threatened. Not to mention his massive crush on the girl that knew nothing about his true feelings. Alex was extremely clueless when it came to things like that. Everybody knew he liked her, except for, well, _her_.

"Uh, yeah sure," Kerry shrugged. "And if he does that I can talk to your Auntie about covering those shifts for you, I got nothin' better to do." She shrugged, home life less than ideal. "And you can use my notes from last year for your classes."

"Like she'd be able to read them," Fred scoffed.

Alex turned to Fred, smacking him on the back of the head for being rude. "Freddy," Alex warned. "Play nice." She then turned to Kerry and said, "Like I could read your handwriting."

"I don't know what y'all are talkin' about!" Kerry grumbled her cheeks turning a bit red. "I can read it just fine," she said a pout in place that caused the Twin's to gush and poke more fun at her.

"That southern teaching, I guess," Emily said with a laugh, following all the stereotypes she's heard about the south. Kerry's face froze a bit but flawlessly morphed into a fake grin.

"I guess so." She shrugged a bit.

Alex rolled her eyes, trying to get everybody back on topic. "That would really help. Thanks, guys."

"Right, so I'll come by after school and talk it up with your Aunt," Kerry said with an nod, glad the change the subject.

"And I'll talk to your parents. And I'm sure your brothers wouldn't mind having me around," Fred said.

"Yeah, they love you," Alex stated.

"Great!"Kerry smirked. "Glad we got it settled...'sides your brother Marcus keeps looking at me weird. I don't think he likes me much."

"More like the other way around," Alex laughed.

"Huh?" Kerry asked in confusion causing everyone to laugh. "What?!"

"Yeah," Alex said. "He's got a thing for you. Isn't it obvious?"

"No!" Kerry said. "I thought he was just,you know, one of those guys that joke flirts or what ever to be nice,"

"Oh, he flirts way too much with everybody, but he thinks your hot," Alex said.

"How did we get on this topic?" Fred asked.

"Yeah, I'd rather not talk about what your brother finds hot, unless it's me," Emily said. "Because your brothers are _fiiiiine_."

"Ew," Alex said with a shiver.

"I have to agree, not my type." Kerry shook her head.

"Yeah, you're more into the smart guys," Alex said, nodding her head.

Fred scoffed. "Yeah, like they'd go for you."

" _Freddy_!" Alex yelled, smacking him on the back of the head again. "Be nice!"

"Yeah, I guess." Kerry shrugged her face blank again, no inflection in her tone. "I guess I'd be kinda scary to date," she said.

"I don't think so," Alex said, knowing very well that Kerry was taking it harder than she was letting on. "You just haven't found the guy yet. A lot of the smart guys here are stuck up."

"Lex, come on!" Emily laughed, not getting the heavy atmosphere. "She said it herself. No smart guy would go for a scary punk girl," Emily said.

"Emily," Kiley scolded. "Would you think I'd go out with Erik?" She turned her attention to Kerry, knowing very well how she must be feeling, seeing as Erik had been the same way. "Lex is right, Kerry. Just give it some time. Most guys in high school are jerks anyways. They're not mature enough for a serious relationship."

"Thanks, KK," Kerry said shooting the girl a crooked smile, always one to give people nicknames when they earned them. "I'm cool, though, on my own." she joked. "Easier to get into trouble that way." She winked.

"So, who's the guy you have to tutor?" Phoebe asked.

"Oh, uh, his name's Michelangelo, or something," Alex said. "Hamato, I think. I'm going over there after school today to introduce myself."

"You're going over there alone?" Fred asked. "You don't know anything about these people. They could be kidnappers or rapist or something."

Alex rolled her eyes. "You're too overprotective," she said. "I'm fine, Freddy. Really. I can take care of myself."

"Still, text us when you get there and when you leave." Kerry shrugged. "Or if you need an out. Gotta watch your six, you know?"

"Guys, I'll be _fine_ ," she insisted. "I need less protective friends."

"Hey, you can go wherevah da hell ya want," Erik said. "I's know fer soil ya can take care o' youself."

"Thank you, Erik!" Alex said. "You guys should be more like Erik!"

"Hey, I know you kick butt better than most." Kerry chuckled. "Doesn't mean I don't want to be there watching your back."

"My back is fine," Alex said. "I'd be more worried about the other guy."

"Fine," Kerry chuckled. "I want to be there to watch you beat him up."

"Well, I don't plan on beating anybody up as of right now, so I'll let you know the next time something comes up," Alex chuckled.

"Perfect," Kerry grinned flicking her forehead.

"Hey, don't touch her like that," Fred said, grabbing Kerry's wrist.

"Freddy, it's fine," Alex said. "She was just messing around."

"You shouldn't let people do things like that to you," he insisted. "You're too special to let that happen."

"Uh, dude, mind letting go?" Kerry said, eyes narrowing. She had no issue with him being protective but she did _not_ like being touched.

"Uh, sorry," Fred muttered, letting go of.

"Yeah," Kerry grumbled pulling it away and going back to her food.

 _Okay then,_ Alex thought, shaking her head. "So, uh," she started, trying to get everybody on a different topic to get away from the awkward air surrounding their table, "does anybody know what we're doing in PE with Mr. Smith today?"

"Him, hopefully," Emily said.

"Ew!" Kerry muttered. "I know he's cute but still! He's twice our age!"

"Yeah, I don't care," Emily said. "I'd tap that no matter the age difference."

"You are the horniest girl I have ever met," Fred pointed out. "Yet, you're not the sluttiest."

Kerry couldn't help but laugh. "Who get's that award?"

"Amanda," everybody at the table stated.

"Okay..." Kerry drew out. "I assume she is not a friend and I should avoid her?"

"She used to hang out in our group," Alex said. "She was okay until we got to high school. I just feel so bad for Arthur though."

"He has no idea she's cheated on him with almost all of the football, basketball, and lacrosse team," Kiley said.

"Uh, shouldn't someone tell him then? I mean better than let him suffer later on right?" Kerry asked raising an eyebrow.

"We's tried," Erik said.

"Yeah, he didn't believe us," Phoebe said.

"Arzur still holds her too high een his books," Rudy said. "She cannot do anyzing vrong."

"She's a master manipulator," Alex said. "We told him, he didn't believe us and told Amanda what we said. She got angry and threatened and that's why they stopped hanging out with us."

"Is there nothin' we can do?" Kerry asked, her sense of justice raising up to the surface again.

"She's too sneaky about where she hooks up with people," Fred said. "We've tried to get someone to admit it to Arthur, but they're too afraid of Amanda to do it."

"Well there's got to be someone not afraid of her." Kerry scoffed. "What can she do? Ruin your life? Big deal it's High School." She scoffed.

"Us, but like we said," Alex stared to say. "She's sneaky and I honestly don't want to be the person to stalk her and get photographic evidence." She shivered at the end of that. "Amanda comes from money and she sure knows how to use it."

"Poor Fella," Kerry grumbled. "And money can only go so far. Down in Texas… nevermind," Kerry started but stopped herself, having enough of the stereotype game today from other people in school.

"Hey, did anybody get what chapters Mr. Parker said we had to read for homework?" Phoebe asked. "I forgot to write it in my planner."

"Now dat's a teacha I would bang," Erik said.

"Erik!" Kiley scolded, smacking him on the arm.

"Hey, and she's not twice our age," Fred said. "She's only twenty-one."

"What, you got your eyes on Mr. Parker now?" Emily teased. "Don't do this to me, Freddy. You and Lex are my OTP!"

" _Emily_!" Alex barked, choking on her water.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Fred denied, blushing even darker than Alex's hair.

Kerry on the other hand started laughing, holding her ribs a bit. "Oh Bless my Heart!" she laughed.

"W-we would make a terrible couple," Fred rambled, feeling incredibly embarrassed.

"R-Right, he's my best friend," Alex said, going along with it.

"I-It would be like kissing my sister! We'd want to kill each other," Fred added.

Kerry only seemed to laugh harder, head laying on the table.

"But you two are so cute together!" Emily stated. "You two are so close, the only thing left is for you to admit your feelings for one another!"

 _What feelings? He's like a brother!_ "I think you've been watching too many Hallmark movies, Em."

"Things ain't like in the movies, darlin'" Kerry chuckled. "Two people of opposite genders can be best friends and have no thoughts of romance at all."

Fred glanced at Kerry, slouching in his chair slightly at that. He slouched even more when Alex said, "Right, Freddy and I are perfect as best friends. That's all. Right Freddy?"

"Uh, yeah," he muttered, looking away. "Whatever you say, Lexa."

"But you two would be cute together," Phoebe stated. "I don't see how it couldn't work."

"Vell, zere has to be attraction for it to vork," Rudy said. "Fred, do you zink Alex is pretty?"

"Yeah," he said, glancing over at the girl with a smirk. "My girl's beautiful."

"Awww, see what I mean!" Emily said. "He's just too sweet!"

"Alex?" Rudy asked. "Do you zink Fred is attractive?"

"Well, yeah," Alex said. "But that do-"

"So why couldn't it work?" Emily butted in.

"Attraction is only part of it," Kerry said slowly. "I like to think that there's something inside of us that just knows when we met someone we're meant to love you, know? You just, click for some unknown reason." She murmured. "Love is inexplainable."

"That's one of the most romantic things I have ever heard," Kiley said.

Kerry seemed to blush a bit. "Y-yeah, whatever," she said in a scoff and looked away.

"See, Freddy has no romantic feelings for me, and I have no romantic feelings for him," Alex said, a smile on her face. "End of story."

"Oh, I think this story is long from over," Kiley muttered, looking at Fred.

"Alright guys," Kerry said peeking at him as well and wanting to give the guy a break. "Bell is about to ring," she said.

"We don't want to be late for PE," Alex said.

"Hell no!" Emily said, jumping up from her seat. "What are you guys waiting for! I have a hotty to go goggle at."

"I can't believe I'm related to her," Kiley muttered.

"I'll see ya'll after school." Kerry chuckled as she stood up and gathered up her things, she barely had any classes with them since she was an upperclassman.

"See you later, fruitcake," Alex said.

"See ya, dorkfish." Kerry laughed and went on her way to toss her trash and head out.

"Why do we hang out with her?" Fred asked Alex, putting his arm around her shoulder as they walked out of the lunch room. It was rather common for him to do that whenever they walked to class together. She wrapped the arm closer to him around his waist, thinking nothing of it.

"Because she adds a little excitement to our lives," Alex told him.

"Do we really need any more of that?" he asked.

"She's cool, Freddy," Alex said. "Plus, I like her and she needs some friends. She doesn't know that many people here yet."

"Maybe there's a reason she doesn't have any friends," Fred said. "I mean, she doesn't exactly present herself in a good manner."

"So she's a little rough around the edges," Alex said with a shrug. "Doesn't mean she's a bad person. She's really sweet when you get to know her like I have. People just need to give her a chance."

"She's more than a little rough," Fred scoffed. "She walks around all high and mighty all the time. I'm sure she'll just be another Amanda."

"That's an easy one to answer," Alex said. "She has self esteem problems. And no, she's not another Amanda. That's a horrible thing to say, Freddy."

"I'm just saying, Lexa," Fred said. "I don't trust her."

"You trust me, right?" Alex asked, having an ulterior motive to that question.

"With my life," Fred said automatically.

"Well, I trust Kerry," Alex said. "So if you trust me, I trust you, I trust Kerry and Kerry trusts me, then you should trust her."

"It doesn't work that way, Lexa and you know it," he said.

"Okay, how about this," Alex said. She took his hand and pulled him over to the side so they could talk. They have about three more minutes until the late bell rang so they had enough time. "Can you try and be nice to her, for me?"

Fred breathed through his nose, taking a moment to himself. "...For you." He said. "I won't like it but I'll try."

Alex smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him into a tight hug. "Thanks, Freddy." She pulled back and grabbed his hand, pulling him down the hallway. "Come on, we don't want to be late for class."

 _You are going to be the death of me, Alexandra O'Neil,_ Fred thought, shaking his head as she pulled him along.


	2. The Boys

**Disclaimer: We don't own anything TMNT. Just our OC's.**

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Chapter 2

The Boys

"No, Kerry," Alex said, talking to the girl over the phone. "I don't need backup."

" _You sure?"_ Kerry chuckled a bit. " _I mean, we'd make a kick-ass team."_

"You know what?" Alex said. "I think you and I would kill each other quicker than Fred and I would."

" _No worries, I don't roll that way. And If I did you wouldn't be my type."_ Kerry chuckled.

"Hey, I'm smart!" Alex defended. "And I didn't' mean it like _that_."

" _I don't like redheads,"_ she teased.

" _Ouch_ ," Alex laughed. "I don't know if I should be relieved or offended."

" _Be a little of both!"_ Kerry chuckled. " _Oh, your Auntie says hi by the way,"_ she said. Like promised, she went to April offering to cover her shift for her. Kerry had a thing for old stuff, taking after her mom who was an Archaeologist, so she felt right at home in the old shop.

"Give her my love," Alex said as she slowly came to a stop in front of an oddly placed building. It had Japanese architecture, so it seemed a little out of place in the big city. She looked down at the little piece of paper in her hand with the address on it. _Well, this is it._ "And I've got to go. I think I've found the place."

" _No, all your love is mine,"_ Kerry said pretending to laugh maniacally. " _...Yeah, customers are looking at me weird. See ya Dorkfish."_

"Buy fruitcake," Alex said.

Alex slid her phone back into her back pocket and walked up the steps of the large gate, making her way to the large carved door. She examined it for a moment, taking in the beautiful hand carved frozen dragons dancing across the wood. It was truly beautiful, something Alex could appreciate, as well as April.

She knocked on the door, feeling bad about having to be slightly violent to get even the slightest noise to sound. She stood there for what seemed like ten minutes when the door suddenly opened rather quickly, making the girl step back in defense, afraid whoever it was would run into her if they bolted out the door.

Her green eyes blinked up, falling into a stare with grayish-blue eyes. The eyes belonged to a pale skinned teenage boy, around the same age as Alex, though about four or five inches taller than her 5'4" frame. He seemed just as shocked as she was to see her, moving his slightly shaggy black hair out of his eyes.

"Hello," he said, once recovering from shock. His voice was patient and soft, though curious to figure out why the girl was there, which made it sound a little firmer. "May I help you?"

"Uh, yes, actually," Alex said. "Is this the Hamato residence?"

"Yes," he answered, knitting his eyebrows together. "Is there something I can do for you?"

"I'm Alex," she said, sticking her hand out to shake, his hand was much larger than her, with long fingers and calloused palms and a strong grip. "I'm here to tutor Michelangelo. You wouldn't happen to be him, would you?"

"Oh, no," he said with a slight laugh. The boy smiled, lighting up his eyes. "I'm Leonardo, but you can call me Leo. Mikey would be my brother. Uh, please, come in." He moved out of the way, holding the door open for the redhead to enter.

"Thank you," she said, entering. She took her shoes off, seeing that it was a very traditional looking Japanese home where they always took their shoes off. She placed them in front of the step where the other shoes were, her's seeming oh so small compared to the several pairs of boys sneakers resting.

"This way," he said, leading her down the large hallway and stopped in front of a sliding screen door. "My father would like to speak with you first," Leonardo said.

"Of course," Alex said. "Thank you," she added when Leonardo opened the screen door for her. She entered, turning back when he shut the door behind her. She shrugged and entered, taking up a cushion in front of the older man sitting on one of the other cushions.

He was wearing a long, deep red kimono, a walking stick sitting on the ground next to him as he meditated. She turned her head at him, examining his older, wise, though still smooth face. He looked like a very wise, kind man to Alex, and she normally wasn't wrong when she studied people.

"Thank you for coming, Alexandra," the man said, pulling the girl out of her thoughts.

"Tanoshimi **,** Hamato-sama," Alex said with a bow, feeling as if she was required to do so, knowing what the correct Japanese response would be to show the man respect. "Domo arigato. It's an honor to provide my services. I hope to learn a lot by doing so."

The man smiled down at her, surprised at her use of Japanese, the smile reaching his brown eyes. "I hope it is a learning experience for us all," he told her.

Alex thought that curious, but didn't question it. "May I meet Michelangelo now?"

"Yes, of course," he said. "Leonardo?" he asked, and the door opened once more. "Please introduce Alexandra to your brothers."

"Yes, Master Splinter," Leo said, bowing to his father.

Alex bowed to the older man. "Thank you for your time," she said. She stood up and left the room, following Leonardo back down the hall and through another screen door to what looked like a game room.

Alex slowly entered, her green eyes scanning the room just like they did everywhere she went. There was one boy to her left at a work area, several test tubes and he had his head in a very large book, his brown eyes quickly scanning the pages behind what looked like reading glasses. His slightly long brown hair was pulled back into a small ponytail, making sure it would stay out of his face as he bit his lip, concentrating on whatever it was he was doing.

 _Yeah, that's definitely Kerry's type,_ Alex thought, studying the guy one last time before she shifted her gaze.

Across the room at what looked like a small workout area was another teenagers, a tall, muscular guy with thick arms and a broad chest. His deep red hair, much like Alex's, though even darker, was spiked up using hair gel. He was pale, much like the other two and clearly toned. He stopped beating the punching bag and looked up, glaring at Alex for some reason. Alex blushed, looking away from the shirtless boy, though slightly ticked off at the uncalled for glare.

Lastly, across the room from the door were several couches and beanbags, with a large television and several gaming systems. There were shelves lining the wall, littered with movies and video game cases of all kinds. A curly haired blond turned his head, freckles dusting over his nose and cheeks, light and playful green eyes meeting her's. he jumped up over the back of the couch and made his way to girl.

"Hi, Dudette!" he said, moving to wrap the girl into a warm hug, but Alex quickly ducked and skirted to the side. "Sorry," he said with a smirk, though he didn't look all to sorry whatsoever. "I'm Mikey."

Alex smiled at him, sticking her hand out for him to shake. "Hi, Mikey. I'm Alex."

"That's your name?" the red headed boy. "Isn't that a boy's name?"

"Well, isn't that a very sexist thing to say," Alex pointed out, her voice sounding ever so polite even though what she had said wasn't so.

"Well you look like a boy to me," he said with a shrug, going back to the punching back. "Talk big like one too."

Alex narrowed her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest, unknowingly pulling her shirt down enough to show a bit of cleavage, which caught the attention of every male in there. _Why you little…_

Leo cleared his throat, looking away. "Raph, she's our guest," Leo stated. He didn't sound like he approved at all of what the boy had said. "Be respectful."

"Whatever," Raph scoffed.

"The guy with the mouth is Raphael," Mikey told her.

"I'm Donatello," Donatello introduced, walking over from his station. He shook her hand, a light blush on his cheeks.

"It's nice to meet you, Donatello," Alex said, taking his hand. _Isn't he just the sweetest?_ Alex thought. _Kerry would just melt!_

"We call him Don or Donny for short," Mikey said, wrapping an arm around said boy's shoulder, pulling him down slightly, since Mikey was shorter than Don.

"Doesn't give her the right to call him that," Raph said. "She doesn't know him."

"It's okay," Don said. "You can call me either. Donatello's a mouthful."

"That same reason I tell people to call me Alex," she told him, a soft smile on her face. "Plus, Alexandra is too formal. I'm more of an Alex."

"So a boy?" Raph said.

"You can keep going," Alex said, "but I've heard it all. I have four older brothers."

Mikey jumped up, arms above his head. "Finally," he exclaimed. "Someone who understands! Except, I only have three, but you still get it. "

Alex laughed, crossing her arms over her chest. "Try being the youngest and only girl," Alex said. "Being teased is the least of my problems. Trying bring home a date."

Don hence sympathetically. "Yep, a living hell, I imagine." He chuckled, blushing as he realized he swore in front of a lady. "Sorry."

"Hey, don't worry about it," Alex told, patting him on the arm. "One of my best friends has the mouth of a sailor."

"Cool," Mikey said with a smirk.

"Uh, do you mind if we get down to business?" she asked. "I don't have a lot of time. I just wanted to come introduce myself and to come up with a schedule."

"Sure," Mikey said. "Come on over to my domain!"

"That couch is your domain?" Alex asked, eyebrow raised. She sat down on the couch, one leg crossed over the other.

"Oh yeah!" Mikey said. "I do all my best work on the couch. Like getting all the high scores on our video games."

"You sound like my brother Zack," Alex said.

"Cool," he said he said, obviously loving talking to her.

"Okay, so I have a busy schedule, but I'm pretty sure I can work around whatever you've got," she said.

"Well, we're free most of the time," Mikey said. "We have training before we do our homeschooling, and after, but what time do you get out of school."

"14:30," Alex answered.

"Military time?" Leo asked.

"Uh, yeah," Alex said, adding a shrug to show that it wasn't really a big deal. "Something I picked up from my father."

"Yeah, we're done by then," Mikey said nodding.

"Cool," Alex said. "Any idea on how long you think we should work?" she asked, feeling her phone vibrate in her pocket. Alex pulled it out and and smirked when she saw it was Kerry. _Uhg, I can't believe she changed her contact name again._

 **Homosexual Partner: So was Freddie boy right? Are they freaky rapists? =p**

 **Alex: No, they're actually really cool. One of them is your type, I think. ;)**

"I don't know," Mikey said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Hey, Don! How long do you think she should be here? You're the one that failed at tutoring me before."

"You tutored him before?" Alex asked.

"He's our resident genius," Mikey said.

Don blushed, walking over from his work station, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah, but I'm not the best at dumbing down science stuff," Don said. "An hour or so should be fine, depending on how the lesson goes."

 **Homosexual Partner: ...your face needs to begin being shut please!**

"Hey, tutoring isn't for everybody," Alex said. "My friend Phoebe tried tutor my other friend Erik and she couldn't do it. That's how I started tutoring him."

 **Alex: Fruitcake.**

"Is he your boyfriend?" Mikey asked he winked at her.

" _Michelangelo!_ " Leo scolded from his place on a meditation mat.

Alex chuckled, a blush on her face. "No, it's okay. Erik's just my friend. He's dating my friend Kiley, actually."

"You have a lot of friends," he said in wonder.

"No, just a couple really good ones," she said. "But thank you."

 **Homosexual Partner: Dorkfish**

"You're _gay_?" Mikey asked, mouth hanging open in shock. "And your girlfriend calls you Dorkfish?"

"Knew it!" Raph exclaimed with a loud laugh.

"No, I'm not gay!" Alex stated. She shot up and turned to Raph, hands on her hips. "What the hell made you think I was gay?"

"Your name," he said, crossing his arms, making his way across his chest, as he made his way to where she was. He stood behind the couch, smirking down at her.

Alex walked around the couch, getting right up in front of Raph. He was a good head taller than her, but that didn't stop her from glaring at getting right up in his business. "And that's all?" Alex asked, tilting her head to the side, which Raph seemed to take oddly, though Alex wasn't exactly sure why. She ignored it, however, and went on. "There is no reason why being called Alex would make me _gay_."

"Butch," he said, trying to insult her.

"Hothead," she shot back, glaring even harder.

He opened his mouth to shoot back another name, but was interrupted by Leonardo. He put his hand on his brother's arm, which was quickly shook off. "Come on, Raph. Don't be a jerk."

"If you're not gay, who is it?" Mikey asked, trying to get to a different topic. "The girl that texted you, I mean."

"Oh," Alex said, turning her head to look at Mikey next to her on the couch. "It's my friend Kerry. She likes to change her contact name on me all the time."

"And she calls you a Dorkfish?" Mikey laughed.  
"There's a reason why I call her a Fruitcake," Alex told him.

"Maybe _you're_ the fruitcake," Raph chuckled.

Alex didn't move to look at him. "I'm choosing to ignore that." Instead, she took out her phone and pulled up her calendar. "Okay, so does 15:00 on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays sound good to you?"

"Sure," Mikey said.

Alex put the phone back in her pocket and looked at Mikey's playful blue eyes. "Okay, so have everything ready when I come on Monday, we'll go over what you covered that day and then we'll do homework," Alex started to explain. "And if everything goes smoothly, if you need any help with any other subjects I'd be more than happy to help you with those, as long as we get through what we need to first."

"Cool," Mike said.

" _We have to take our clothes off. We have to party all night. We have to take our clothes off to have a good time, oh no!"_

Alex smirked as she heard Gym Class Heros playing on her phone, telling her that Fred was calling. She pulled her phone out and asked, "Do you guys mind if I take this?"

"Your girlfriend?" Raph asked, smirk firmly in place.

Alex rolled her eyes and then smirked thinking, _Oh, I can get him good with this._ She pressed Talk and said, "Hey, Freddy. What's up, hon?" Alex has to hold back her laughter as almost everybody in the room looked at her with wide eyes.

" _Hey, Lexa,"_ Fred answered. " _How'd the meeting go with that Milo guy?"_

"Mikey, actually," she corrected. Mikey perked up hearing his. She winked at the boy saying. "And he's cool. I think it'll be fun working with him."

" _That's a relief,"_ Fred said with a countable sigh. " _I was afraid I'd have to kick someone's ass."_

 _No, but_ I _might just have to,_ Alex thought, referring to Raph. She glanced over at the redhead before she went on. "No, but it's sweet of you."

" _Hey, I'd do anything for you, remember?"_

"What did I ever do to deserve you?" she asked, meaning every word. It was just a bonus when Raph huffed and went back to beating the punching bag.

" _It's me that doesn't deserve you, Lexa,"_ Fred said.

"Oh, hey, I forgot to ask you today if we still on for Friday night at Franco's?" Alex asked.

Franco's was the local place most of the teenagers went to hang out. It was a pizza place, an arcade, an underage club where everything was non alcoholic and drug free. It was the best hangout place and it was where Alex and her friends hung out most of the time, chilling, joking around and sometimes dancing.

" _Yeah, I think we're all meeting up at five,"_ he told her.

"Cool," Alex. "I've got to go, but I'll see you tomorrow, okay, Freddy?"

" _Plan on it, Lexa,"_ Fred said. " _Be careful on your walk home, okay?"_

"Always am," Alex said. "Bye."

" _See you tomorrow."_

Alex hung up and put the phone in her pocket. She looked, up Mikey staring at her with a wide mouth. She raised a brow at him, not exactly sure what his problem was. "What?" she asked.

"Is that how girl's flirt with their boyfriends all the time?" Mikey asked honestly. "Because if it is, I really need to get out more and get a girlfriend."

Alex chuckled. "Well, that wasn't flirty and Freddy's not my boyfriend. He's my best friend."

"Can I be your new best friend then?" he asked. "You can talk to me like that any, every and all day long."

"Mikey! Be respectful," Leonardo scolded, reminding her of herself with her own brothers. She was always the one to try and keep them in check.

"It's okay, Leo," Alex said. "That's sweet of you, Mikey, but I'm not really in the market right now."

"Well, you can't blame a guy for trying!" he said with a shrug.

She chuckled and shook her head. Several strands of hair fell down in her face and she moved them back behind her ear with one hand. "I've got to head out, but I'll see you tomorrow at 15:00 sharp," Alex said.

"Definitely!" Mikey said.

"It was nice meeting you guys," Alex said, turning to both Leo and Don. She then turned to Raph and said, "Couldn't say the same about you."

"Likewise, Butch."

Alex rolled her eyes and gave one last wave before leaving the Hamato residence. She hadn't exactly expected that when she went there, but that sure was a lot to take in. She smirked though, thinking about the brothers.

 _Oh, this will be fun. I can already tell._


	3. Day 1

**Disclaimer: We don't own anything TMNT. Just our OC's.**

* * *

Chapter 3

Day 1

"Thanks again for filling in for me at April's last night, Kerry," Alex said, leaning up against Freddy's chest.

The group of friends were sitting in the hallway where most of their lockers were grouped together. Fred was sitting with his back against his locker, legs spread apart where Alex was sitting, his arms wrapped around her waist to be more comfortable. Her arms her gently over his, her backpack sitting beside her, Fred's right next to it.

Kerry was sitting across the hall, against her locker, legs crossed in front of her, arms crossed in front of her chest. Emily was sitting beside her, Kiley and Erik were standing at the locker they shared. Rudy and Phoebe were sitting next to Alex and Fred, Phoebe sitting on Rudy's lap while he played with her finders.

"It's no problem," Kerry said. "I really enjoy working there with April." She smiled, remembering what she had done that night. "There are so many interesting things in the shop from all over the world."

"I know, I love April's place," Alex said.

"So, tell us about Milo," Fred said.

" _Mikey_ ," she corrected, just like she had the day before when he had said it wrong over the phone. "And he was adorable. As sweet as can be. Same with two of his brothers. They were incredibly respectful. The third on the other hand…"

"The one with an attitude problem?" Kerry asked remembering the texts between the two.

"Yeah, can you believe he called me a butch? He swore I was gay too! Not that there's anything wrong with being gay, it's just, I'd rather not be accused of it if I'm now, you know?" Alex rambled, getting just as worked up as she had been when the event actually happened.

"Yeah I totally get it." Kerry nodded.

"Why dah hell did he think yous was gay?" Erik asked.

"Apparently going by Alex makes me gay," Alex said, leaning away from Fred a little as she gestured with her hand enthusiastically. "And the way I talk. What the hell does that even mean?"

"Some guys are just intimidated by girls who talk confidently and openly like a guy." Kerry shrugged. "That's probably it."

 _Confident, yeah right,_ Alex thought. Kerry and Fred both knew that Alex wasn't as confident as she talked. The others didn't know, and Alex didn't want them too, but Kerry and Freddy knew Alex far too well to not notice. They kept it from the others to make the girl feel better, but tried to work on getting her more comfortable with herself.

"Imagine what he would have said if he knew we all call you Lex," Emily thought out loud. "That could have ended badly."

"I don't even want to think about that!" Alex laughed humorlessly.

"Hey," Fred said, pulling her attention to him. "The guy's an ass. Don't listen to him."

"Easier said than done," Alex muttered, leaning back on him more.

"Hey," Kerry started. "Have y'all heard about all the increased gang activity lately? It was all over the news."

"Stupid Purple Dragons," Phoebe muttered. "They scare the living daylights out of me."

The Purple Dragons was a gang that was quickly gaining power in New York City. They were also gaining the worst reputation, or the best, depending on who was looking at it. They were brutal. They're rob banks and innocent old ladies, gun down anybody that threatened them, or just to make a statement. They rapped people just for the fun of it. They were filthy monsters, giving dragons a bad name.

"You're safe," Rudy told her, kissing her forehead.

"A lot of people are bein' hurt," Kerry murmured looking down, a softer side showing for once. "Somethin' has got to give here," she said sadly.

"I know," Emily said. "It's like the cops aren't doing anything."

"Or it's too much for them," Alex said. "They're understaffed as is with all of the budget cuts and whatnot. You can't expect them to keep up the same work with fewer officers and less equipment."

"I said somethin' gotta give," Kerry murmured. "Not that it would be a good kind of give."

"It's just provided the perfect playing field for the Purple Dragons," Alex said. "Someone's got to do something."

"Like who?" Emily asked. "Superheroes don't exist. Though I wouldn't mind getting me a Super-man, that's for sure. "

"I think society will eventually even out. I mean, it somehow seems to do that in the past," Kerry said.

"Yeah, but what's the death toll on that?" Alex asked. "Can we really just sit here while they rob banks and shoot people down in the street just because they feel like it? It doesn't feel right."

"I know, but what can _we_ do?" Kerry sighed. "Don't think I like sitting around doing nothing about this," She said seriously.

"Don't go doing what I think you're thinking about doing," Freddy whispered in her ear.

"I'm not thinking about anything," Alex said truthfully. "I have no idea what I would do."

Kerry was quiet before she turned her head to look at Alex. She reached out and touched her cheek before patting it slowly. "Alex," she seemed to play whisper. "Aaaalex!" she said again in an even louder play whisper.

"What Fruitcake?" Alex asked, eyebrow raised.

"That escalated quickly," she said flopping over so her head was in her lap.

"What escalated quickly?" the redhead asked.

"How sexy you are," Kerry said and the others laughed, her goal of breaking the tension working.

"I don't understand you, Medina." Fred told her.

"Cause I'm unbelieveable!" she said and patted his cheeks. "I shall teach you the ways, young padawan."

"Yeah, I think I'm good," he said, resting his chin on Alex's shoulder, pulling her closer in a protective way. He didn't want to share Alex, not one bit. But he was trying to be nicer to Kerry, though it didn't seem like it.

The bell rang through the halls, echoing. The group stood up, not wanting to be late for class. Alex turned around, helping Fred up from where he sat. He grabbed her bag and put it over one of his shoulder before grabbing his other one.

"I can carry that, you know," Alex said.

"I know," Fred said with a shrug. "But I want to."

"Well, aren't you sweet," Alex said, kissing his cheek, something she had started doing when she was little.

Kerry bit her lip to keep herself from laughing. She was so clueless!

"Yeah," He grumbled a bit, shooting Kerry a look. "Sweet. Let's go," he said wrapping an arm around her shoulders and leading her to class, eager to leave the older girl behind.

"I'm really looking forward to going to Franco's tonight," Alex said. "I haven't been able to go that last couple times we all went."

"It was boring without you there, ya know?" He said. "It will be great to have you there again."

"You flatter me so," Alex said, hip bumping him as they walked.

"It's my job," he joked. "And I'm good at it."

"How is it your job?" Alex asked. "You're my best friend, not my boyfriend."

"So?" he grumbled, a bit irked at that distinction. "'Sides not like you have one, so I got to pick up the slack."

"I don't think that's how it works, but whatever floats your boat, Freddy," Alex said.

"It floats my boat very well."

"As long as it makes you happy, who am I to stop you?" Alex asked.

"What if you are what makes me happy?" Fred asked her.

Alex had absolutely no idea what he truly meant by that. "You make me happy too," Alex said, completely clueless.

"...good." Fred said and put on a smile, knowing she had no idea what he meant.

* * *

Alex stood once again in front of the beautiful door of the Hamato residence. She had her backpack over her shoulder, lazily leaning her weight onto one leg, arms crossed loosely over her chest as she waited patiently for someone to answer the door. The sound of footsteps soon sounded, coming down the hallway at a patient pace. It opened up slowly, less hastily than Leo yesterday. Don smiled down at here.

"Hey Alex!" he chirped in greeting. "Come on in!" he said stepping back and holding to door open for her.

Alex smiled up at him and moved around him to get inside. "Thanks Don," she said. "How are you today?"

"Oh, I'm doing good." He answered closing the door behind her. "Just finished with all my projects. How are you doing?" he asked her in return.

"I'm well, thanks for asking," Alex said, following Don down the hallway. They entered into the large common room where she had met with them before.

"I managed to hide all his handheld games," Don whispered to her. "So you should have all his attention," he chuckled.

Alex laughed, shaking her head. "Thanks for that," she said. "I appreciate it."

"Hi Alex!" Mikey yelled, running over to her from his "domain."

"Mikey remember what we talked about," Don said stepping between him and Alex before he could jump on her.

"No, tackle hugs." Mikey murmured softly, crossing his arms a bit. Don nodded and stepped away muttering good luck to Alex before going over to his work station.

Alex has to hold back more laughter. She found these brothers far too amusing. She shook her head and turned to Mikey, "Okay, so we all set to get to work?"

"Oh yeah!" Mikey said. "Step into my domain!"

"Oh, I remembered your domain," Alex said. "Okay, so let me see your lesson you went through today and we can start from here."

Alex read over the lesson plan that the had gone over that day before she started to explain it in a different way to see if Mikey took it in better than how the lesson explained it. He didn't seem to take it as well as Alex had hoped, so she moved on to taking out a notebook and writing down a couple chemical formulas and acronyms for some of the different ways to remember some of the equations.

The two worked on that for able thirty minutes, Mikey absorbing the information better than the first time, telling her he was more of a hands on learner, which meant she had to come up with more hands on activities for them to do for the next time she went over there to work with him.

They moved on to his homework next, but he didn't need all that much help. He sat on the floor in front of the coffee table, legs crossed, tongue sticking out slightly to the side as he worked. Alex smiled down at him from her spot on the couch, unable to stop herself from grinning at the adorableness.

Alex glanced up when the door of the room opened up. Leo walked in first, dressed in a deep blue pair of gym shorts, headphones still in his ears. He looked up and saw Alex and smiled, giving her a small wave before walking off to the the gym area.

Behind Leo walked in Raph, who was wearing a pair of black and red shorts, headphones in his ears. Alex's eyes lowered from his sweat covered face to his bare, strong chest. He was covered in sweat, which wasn't all that attractive except it made his muscles all shiny and Alex couldn't couldn't help but drop her mouth slightly, face growing redder by the second.

Raoh glanced up, much like Leo has, and his green eyes fell on Alex. He glared, but then smirked seeing her stare. "Butch," he said. He was going to go on, but Alex interrupted him.

With an extremely red face, Alex glared and said, "Ralph."

Raph glared, his green eyes blazing like greek fire. "Tch." he grumbled as he stalked past her. Oh, Alex knew she wasn't going to get away with that comment, especially when she noticed that glint in his eyes. "Maybe you're not gay after all, since you have such good taste," he smirked motioning to his upper body.

"Why you…." Alex trailed off.

"I know the sight of me makes girls go speechless. But do your job and help my brother, Butch," he scoffed a bit as he went over to his punching bag.

"You cocky, pigheaded…"

"Alex?" Mikey asked, pulling the girl's attention back down to him. "Can you help me with this problem?"

She gave one last glare at Raph before she looked down at Mikey's homework. "Of course, Mikey," Alex said. "Let me see."

"Thanks!" The younger boy smiled. "How was your day?" He asked in passing, wanting to cheer her up after the talk with his brother seeming to rile her up.

"Uh, it was okay," Alex said. "Nothing was really out of the ordinary."

"What's public school like?"

Alex never really knew how to describe it. She had just kind of always been there. It was a part of her every day life. "Well," Alex said. "It's, well, I don't know how to describe it. It's kind of loud and busy. Uh, there are a lot of jerks, but I've got a good group of friends."

"It must be really cool!" Mikey chirped looking at her in excitement. "Seeing all of those people and getting to hang with your friends all day. Even if you have to work too."

"We don't need people. We've got family," Raph said from across the room, narrowing his eyes at his brother before shooting a look at Alex that told her to be quiet.

"Well, you're going to have to learn to socialize with other people eventually," Alex said.

" _We_ know how to socialize," Mikey laughed. "Raph's a social dud!" To which Alex laughed.

"Don't make me hit you, Michelangelo!"

"Guys please don't fight in front of Alex," Leo sighed from his spot on the meditation mat.

"Here we go," Don sighed.

"What do you guys do for fun after you're done with training and home schooling?" Alex asked. "Do you have friends you hang out with?"

"Uh, well, u-uh," Donatello said biting his lip. "Not really. School and training is time consuming."

"Our family has always been very family centric." Leo explained. "Family is the most important thing."

"Well, I get family centric," Alex said, nodding her head. "All of my brothers and I work at my parents business and I also work a second job at my Aunt's antique store."

"Wow," Mikey said. "When do you have time for anything else?"

Alex shrugged. "Uh, it's hard," she admitted, nodding her head. "But like I said, I have good friends. My best friends both offered to help fill in for me when I need to come help you, but I think I've worked it out so that I don't start work until after our meetings."

"Oh, sorry if I caused any problems," Mikey apologized.

Alex laughed, messing up Mikey's curly blond hair. "It's no problem at all, Mikey. I work Tuesday, Thursdays and Saturdays at my parents and every day except those and Fridays, I work with April."

"April's your aunt, right? The one your friend covered for you with?"

"Yeah," Alex answered. "She's my dad's youngest sister. There's also Aunt Robyn, she's his other sister."

"What's it like having Aunts?" Mikey asked, full of questions, happy to have someone new to talk to. "We don't have any, or uncles, or cousins for that matter."

"It's cool, I guess," she said. "Robyn lives in California so we don't get to talk all that often, but April and I can talk about anything. She's great. And no cousins. Robyn's that stereotypical crazy irresponsible aunt and April's only twenty-three."

"We don't need your life story," Raph said. "Mikey quit chatting it up and stop telling her things she doesn't need to know."

"It's no problem," Alex said, ignoring Raph and telling that to Mikey. "Don't listen to him, Mike. It's nice to talk to someone new about this kind of stuff."

"Sometimes we get a bit stir crazy," Leo agreed. "Brothers, you know?" he said joining in as a warning to Raph to chill out. "We can only stand each other for so long. But we're tight."

"I know that all too well," Alex said. "Four brothers, remember?"

"But at least you have some...how do I put this without sounding offensive," Don grumbled, running a hand through his hair. "Feminine influence to counter balance the testosterone. We've never had that."

"Oh," Alex said, realizing what he was saying. _They don't have a mother…_ "Well, if you guys ever want to get that fill, you're more than welcome to come over to my place and meet my mom. She'd love you guys, she always loves it when I bring people over. She likes to make them feel at home by mothering them."

"Really?" Don asked blinking. "T-That sounds great."

"She sounds wonderful," Leo grinned at her. "We'd be happy to meet her, so would Master Splinter."

"That sounds awesome!" Mikey yelled jumping up with his fists in the air.

"Sit down, Mikey!" Raph said narrowing his eyes at Alex. "We don't need anyone's sympathy or someone to pretend to be our mom. We have each other and that's all we need!"

"I wasn't implying anything like that," Alex said, trying to keep her cool. She knew that this was a sensitive subject. She didn't want to get worked up over it. Raph, though not completely, _did_ have a right to react the way he was.

" _Don't let me get me. I'm my own worst enemy. Its bad when you annoy yourself_

 _So irritating-"_  
"Do you guys mind?" Alex asked, holding up her phone.

"Go ahead," Mikey said.

"Thanks," she told him. She answered the call. "Hey, Fruitcake."

" _Hey, Dorkfish, are you almost done?"_

"Yeah, just about ten more minutes. Why?"

" _I was just wondering if you wanted to get ready for tonight at my place or if I can come over and get ready at yours,"_ Kerry asked a bit shyly.

"Oh, that sounds cool," Alex said. "You haven't actually gone to Franco's with us before, have you?"

" _Nope, I only feel comfortable if you go, and you haven't gone the last couple of times. So this is a first."_

"Oh, you'll have a great time," Alex said. "I'm making you dance with me tonight."

" _Do you want someone to get hurt, woman?"_

"Oh, come on," Alex said, laughing. "It's not that hard. We all make total fools of ourselves. Plus, it's kind of more like club dancing."

"Club dancing?" Mikey asked, head shooting up from his homework. "Can I come?"

" _Fine fine, but Fred and You are NOT allowed to make fun of me...and you have to let me put makeup on you."_

"Yeah, there is no way you're getting makeup on me," Alex said.

Alex heard Raph scoff. She glanced up, glaring at him. "Maybe you'd actually look like a girl then."

"Excuse me?" Alex asked, standing up.

" _Is it that guy? He talkin' shit?"_ Kerry asked. " _Tell him he can suck my-"_

Don walked over and leaned on the back of the couch. "Raph, come on," Don said. "That was mean. Alex is really pretty." Don froze, realizing what he had said. He turned to Alex and added, "Well, in a sisterly kind of way. Not in an I'm-totally-attracted-to-you kind of way." He turned, smacking himself on the forehead as if they couldn't see before turning back around. "Not that you're not attractive in the datable sense. I-I'm going to shut up now."

"Smoooooth, Donatello," Leo chuckled. "I think she understand you," He said winking at Alex good heartedly.

Alex laughed, patting Don on the arm to make him feel better. "I getcha, Don. Don't worry."

" _Are you ignoring me?!"_

"Yes, I am ignoring you, Fruitcake," Alex said.

" _You know, I need a healthy dose of attention to live. You could kill me that way, you know._

"You'll get a whole lot of attention at Franco's tonight," Alex said. "Trust me. You're hot stuff, Kerry."

"See, totally gay for this girl!" Raph said motioning towards her.

" _We'll see if it's attention I like,"_ Kerry joked with her. " _So, plan on you coming here or me to your place?"_

"My place in, say…" She looked down at her watch to see what time it was. "Thirty minutes?"

" _You got it, Dorkfish. See you in thiry."_

"Bye Fruitcake," Alex said, hanging up the phone. She put her phone in her pocket and stood up, grabbing her bag off of the ground. "Okay, I've got to head out. But we got through a lot today, Mikey. Good work."

"Thanks, Alex," Mikey said. "Hey, have fun tonight with your friends. I'm sure it'll be cool."

Alex smiled down at him. "Yeah, Franco's is the best. And hey, you guys should come by sometime. I'm sure you'd like it."

"That's my kind of place!" Mikey agreed. "Dancing is awesome!"

"I-I'm not that good," Don muttered rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm sure I'd end up embarrassing myself."

She walked around the back of the couch and turned to Don when she heard that. "Nah," Alex said, giving him a side hug. "I'm sure you've got some killer moves!"

"Why would we want to hang out with you and your stupid girlfriend?" Raph started only to be interrupted by Leo.

"Maybe we will sometime." Leo smiled at her. "Like you said, maybe we do need to socialize outside the family more."

"My friends would love you guys," Alex said. "Feel free to drop by any time, but right now, I've got to head out. I'll see you Monday!"

"Bye Alex!" Don and Mikey called out after her.

"See you soon," Leo smiled while Raph only huffed and went back to practicing.


	4. Franco's

Chapter 4

Franco's

Kerry had entered Alex's apartment just minutes after she did, knocking twice before just walking in.

"Howdy, O'Neils," she announced into the air, to inform them her presence. She had a duffel bag of her cloths and make up over her shoulder.

"Kerry," Marcus said, walking by on his way to his bedroom, checking his sister's best friend out as he went.

"Hey there Marcus." Kerry said, not blinking at his once over of her.

"Dude, seriously?" Alex asked her brother, grabbing Kerry by the arm to pull her towards her bedroom. " _Best friend_. Shouldn't there be a code for that or something?"

"There is, and it says if your sister has a hot friend, you check her out," he chuckled a bit.

"Marcus, I swear you are going to get sued someday!" Alex called, slamming her bedroom door shut.

The redheaded girl leaned against the tan painted wall next to her door for a moment before Alex rolled her eyes as she made her way to her bed with her black comforter and maroon, black and crimson colored pillows. She sat down, huffing at her second oldest brother.

"He doesn't mean anything by it," Kerry said will a roll of her eyes as she plopped down next her and digging around in her bag, triple checking that she had brought everything.

"Doesn't mean it doesn't creep me out any less," Alex said. She changed the conversation by looking over Kerry's shoulder and into the bag. "What did you bring?"

"That new white corseted top with the black flower print I ordered 2 months ago." She grinned. "Came in last week. Oh," she said and pulled out some green fabric. "I saw this shirt in my closet and thought it's a great color on you."

"Oh, it's cute," Alex said, holding it up to her chest, making her way over to the full length mirror over by her dresser. "Thanks, Fruitcake."

"No problem, Dorkfish," Kerry said. "I thought an off the shoulder would show off that neck of yours too," she said and began pulling out her clothes to change into.

Alex let Kerry take the bathroom as Alex changed in her room into the green off the shoulder top and a pair of dark wash skinny jeans. She was messing with her hair, trying to figure out what to do with it when Kerry came into the room again dressed in her corseted top that framed her figure nicely. She tossed a black quarter sleeve jacket over it and paired the outfit with shorts and a pair of thigh high socks.

"Well, look at you, hot stuff," Alex told her friend.

"Thanks," Kerry chuckled. "Being a punk sometimes has it's perks. Great clubbing clothes," she said and began darkening her makeup a bit. "You look super cute." She grinned eyeing her. "Though you might want an up do. It might get a little hot and you need some volume." The girl chuckled.

Kerry sat the girl down on the bed and started to help Alex with her hair. "At least you're going to catch people's attention," Alex said, watching Kerry work in the mirror. "I'm just, well, cute, like you said. You're smokin'."

"Alex, you are smoking too," Kerry said to her seriously. "I mean those green eyes of yours can stop any guy in his tracks," she said as she twisted her hair around a bit, braiding here and there. "You're tall too, guys love tall." She chuckled. "Trust me, darlin', guys will be looking tonight," she said patting her shoulders as she finished the hair do. The sides braided back to fit into a messy bun in the back, definitely a sexy look for the redhead.  
"Maybe," Alex said, shrugging.

"No maybes. Besides, you are the perfect balance of cute and sexy," Kerry assured her. "I'm not the girl boys bring home to Mommy and Daddy. I'm the girl they call for a good time, for one time," she joked, taking a stab at her self to cheer her friend up. "You are the best of both worlds, Dorkfish."

"Guys would be lucky to have you, Kerr," Alex said. "So don't put yourself down like that."

"It's cool, Lexi," Kerry promised. "I'm happy with the way I look. The guys can shove off if they don't like it."

Alex laughed, shaking her head. "Okay, so do you want to head out now?"

"Nope!" Kerry said and went over to her bag before pulling out her makeup bag. "I'm doing your makeup." She grinned at her as she walked over. Hearing a girl like Kerry say that is a bit scary, with her dark shadowed eyes and cat eyeliner.

"Oh, no, no, no, no," Alex said, putting her hands up in protest. "No makeup!"

"No buts," Kerry said approaching her. "I promise to go really simple. Plus you said you wanted to get some attention right?" She smirked and stood behind the girl.

"W-Well," Alex muttered, biting her lip.

"Come on, I'm going to make you look amazing!" Kerry asked, her lower lip jutting out. "Plllleeeassse? I never had any female friends to do this with," she guilt tripped.

 _Well, who am I to take that away from her?_ Alex thought. "Okay, go ahead."

Kerry cheered before turning her around and getting started with bases and blushes. "I had to get a lighter color, you know. Don't think we're the same skin tone." She teased her paler friend.

"No, I'm albino compared to you," Alex laughed.

"Everyone is in our group, honey," she said as she dug around for some black eyeliner. "Dark colors for eyeliners will really bring out the lightness in your eyes," she murmured as she gently applied it with the skilled hand, thanks to being a painter as well. "But no cateyes, that'd be a little much for you. Now silver eyeshadow should do the trick as well," she said taking out the color and brush. "Peach colored lipstick and you're set!" She laughed.

"That's it?" Alex asked. "I'll look like a clown!"

"Just turn around and look, Dorkfish," Kerry told her. "It's all about the right amount and shading." She chuckled and took her shoulders, twisting her to look into the mirror.

Alex's mouth dropped open. "Whoa," she said. Her green eyes seemed much richer now and seemed to draw anyone who looked at them in. The silver adding a slight glint to her gaze and opening them up so the full extent of her beautiful eyes could be seen. Her cheek boned were highlighted and drew attention to her flesh colored lips that shimmered, begging to be kissed.

"I know. I'm amazing." Kerry chuckled, her own darker green eyes sparkling mischievously. "You are going to drop so many jaws tonight."

"Let's hope," Alex said. She shook her head, snapping herself out of it. "Come on, let's get going!"

* * *

Alex and Kerry walked into Franco's, making their way to the large booth in the back where Alex always sat with their group of friends. Pretty much everybody was already there, drinking sodas as they waited for the pizza to come out. Alex plopped down next to Freddy, taking off her jacket from the cool September evening air, Kerry sat down next to her on the other side.

"Hey, guys," Alex greeted, leaning into Fred's arm, which instantly went around her shoulder over the back of the booth.

"Y'all weren't waitin' long were you?" Kerry asked thanking Kiley as she slid a Dr. Pepper in her direction.

"No," Fred said. "Only about ten minutes late, but who's counting, huh?"

"Sorry then." Kerry smiled, honestly feeling a bit bad for it, she was the one who insisted on doing Alex's make up. "I went over to Lexi's to get ready."

"And she guilted me into letting her do my makeup," Alex said.

Fred choked on his soda, snapping his head to Alex when he heard that. "Y-You're, uh, wearing makeup," he stated dumbly.

"Very good, Sherlock," Alex laughed.

"Lex, you look so hot!" Emily grinned at her. "Like, I'd tap that if I was a lesbian hot."

"Em!" Alex scolded, a laugh coming out at the end. "That doesn't help me any!"

"How does it not?" Emily asked. "I mean, lesbains have good taste right?"

"Yeah, but I'm not a lesbian, despite how much Raphael seems to think so," Alex said, glaring down at her drink before picking it up and taking a big swig.

"Alex, take the compliment," Kerry scoffed. "You look smokin'. My best work yet." she chuckled.

"No, you look beautiful, Lexa," Fred told her, kissing her forehead.

"You really think so?" Alex asked, fiddling with her fingers since she didn't have her hair to push back out of her face like she normally did.

"You looked gorgeous." Kiley assured her, leaning back against Erik.

"Well, thank you Kerry," Alex said, nudging her with her elbow.

Kerry blushed a bit, not used to public praise. "U-Uh yeah, no problem Lexi. Like I said, I never got to do things like that so it was fun. Besides, you have a lot of natural beauty to work with."

Alex cleared her throat. "So, come on! Let's go dance!" She practically pushed Kerry out of the booth before she grabbed her arm and pulled her onto the dance floor.

"Wait what?! Alex no!" Kerry asked as their friends chuckled and some of them followed. "I wasn't kidding when I said someone will end up hurt!"

"Oh hush!" Alex told her, grabbing her hands and forcing her to dance. "Just relax! We'll all make fools of ourselves together."

"Come on, Kerry," Emily assured. "Maybe you can show us a square dance!"

"I don't know how to square dance," she groaned. "I told you that!"

Kiley laughed. "Then just dance. Come on!" she said putting the girl's hands in the air. "Just twist okay. It's simple!" Kiley said as she herself began dancing. Slowly Kerry seemed to relax, a smile on her lips as she seemed to adapt. She laughed as she twisted with Alex.

"Wow, they really are club dancing," a familiar voice said a little ways away. "It's even hotter than I thought it would be."

Alex spun around, eyes landing on four familiar figures that she had seen about an hour and a half ago. Her face went extremely red, her mouth falling open in shock and in embarrassment. "M-Mikey? Guys? W-What are you doing here?"

Mikey stood just a little ways away, a grin on his boyish face as he eyed her and her friend. He was dressed for dancing, gray cargo shorts with an orange polo and sneakers. "You look awesome, Alex!" he cheered making his way over to her, followed by his four brothers.

Leo smiled lifting his hand in greeting, approaching in his white jeans and dark blue button up, sleeves rolled up to his elbows. Don looked uncomfortable in his jeans, purple t-shirt, and black unbuttoned vest. Finally Raph walked up, looking around rather appreciatively at the dance floor. He was dressed rather attractively in a dark red tank top with a black leather jacket thrown over it, jeans, and combat boots.

"Mikey? The guy your tutoring?" Kerry asked, having realized her friend wasn't dancing anymore.

"Uh, yeah," Alex said. "Boys, this is Kerry, Emily and Kiley, Kiley's boyfriend Erik. Phoebe and her boyfriend Rudy and Freddy. Guys, this is Mikey and his brothers Leo, Don and _Ralph_."

"It's Raph," he barked at her, eyes narrowing once he finally saw her.

"Hello everyone," Leo smiled a bit at them, polite as always, shaking their heads. Kerry stood there, wide eyed as she looked at them, shaking hands when told.

These were the guys? She blinked a bit, wow she was not kidding, they were cute.

Fred walked up behind Alex, wrapping an arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him and a couple inches away from the brothers. Kerry had to step away as he moved in and she rolled her eyes a bit with a scoff.

"Hi! You must be Fred! Oh and you're Kerry!" Mikey said looking between Alex's two best friends. "We've heard so much about you!"

"So you're Alex's girlfriend?" Raph asked the dark haired girl. Kerry narrowed her eyes at him.

"I'm her best friend, yes," she said putting a hand on her hip and poking his chest with her finger. "You know, you really should watch that mouth of yours, you could end up with a fat lip," she said, green eyes going dangerous.

"Oh, woah hey!" Don said trying to get between them. "S-Sorry about my brother," he said before looking at the girl. "H-H-He doesn't know how to t-ta-talk to...Hi," he murmured finally his eyes having gone blank for a moment.

Alex smirked. _Awww, he likes her! A geek likes Kerry!_

Kerry blinked up at the boy who stepped into her line of sight. "O-Oh," she said stepping back. "Howdy-" she said before blushing. "I mean hi! Hi, I'm Kerry," she said sticking her hand out.

"I-I-I know," he said, a slight laugh coming out as he rubbed the back of his neck. Kerry blushed darker and withdrew her hand.

"R-Right, Crap uh. Hi Don," she said stepping away a bit as Emily came up behind her.

"Sorry, she's from the south," Emily teased a bit causing Kerry to go blank faced again.

"She can be a ditz at times," Fred smirked a bit pulling Alex even closer.

"Freddy!" Alex scolded, swatting him on the arm. "Remember, nice?" she whispered, begging him to behave.

"I was just teasing. It's all in good fun," he said putting his hands up in defense.

Mikey smiled a bit and shook Kerry's hand enthusiastically. "Nice to finally meet you!" He said and looked around at everyone. "To meet you all!"

"My gosh Alex," Emily whispered to Alex. "He is so cute! The face of an angel! They are all so gorgeous!"

"Why don't you go talk to Mikey," she suggested. "I'm sure he'd like to get to know you."

Emily smiled and nodded, moving around to go talk to the boy. Leo approached next.

"Sorry about this. Mikey really wanted to come," he said sheepishly.

"Hey, don't worry about it," Alex said, patting him on the arm. "It's good to see you guys out and about. And I did say come by any time, right?"

"You sure it isn't a problem?" Don asked her, peeking at Kerry as she talked with Kiley. "We did just crash your party."

"Of course I'm positive," Alex said. She moved in next to him, giving him a side hug. "And go talk to her. I know you've got your eyes on her and I know for a fact she likes smart guys."

Don gapped at her. "I-I m-m-me and h-her? A girl like that w-w-with me?" Don gaped. "N-Nice try. But," he murmured glancing at her again. "I would like to get to know her...as friends, of course! S-Since you know, she's your friend and you're our friend and and...I'll shut up now," he murmured.

Fred stood there, glaring as Alex left him to hug on this other guy who she just met yesterday. He was relieved to hear her trying to hook him up with Kerry though. Not only did it mean she didn't have feelings for him, it meant it could get Kerry off his back. He turned his glare to the other guys, having eliminated Don as a threat.

"So Ralph," Fred said narrowing his eyes at the redhead who had actually been listening to the music.

"It's Raph," he grumbled again, narrowing his eyes. "Who the hell are you?" he spat.

Fred's chest automatically puffed up, reaching out to pull Alex back to him.

"Fred, Alex's best friend," he said slowly as if Raph as stupid.

Alex gulped, rubbing the back of her neck due to the awkward tension. "S-So, what do you think? The place, I mean."

"It's alright." Raph scoffed. "When I heard you came here, I thought it'd be lame."

"Watch it, man," Fred told him, moving Alex behind him slightly.

"Who do you think you are? Her body guard?" Raph asked. "Last time I checked, the Butch talked enough shit to take care of herself."

" _What_ did you call her?"

"Fred, come on," Alex said, moving in front of him, placing a hand on his chest to try and get him to back down. "It's not that big of a deal. I mean, I call him Ralph, for Pete's sake."

Kerry looked up from her conversation hearing the yelling. She made eye contact with Alex, a worried look on her face.

"This guy is standing here insulting you and you're okay with it?!"

"You heard the Butch," Raph said crossing his strong arms over his chest. "No big deal."

Alex turned, stepping up to Raph and glared. "That's between me and you. You have no right picking a fight with my best friend. I'm the one that invited you guys. Try to be a tad bit respectful."

"If you didn't notice. He was the one picking the fight." Raph gritted his teeth. Leo turned around from the dance he was having with a girl and grabbed his arm.

"Chill Raph," He hissed at him, not wanting a scene. Raph growled and shrugged him off.

"Yeah, chill Ralph," Alex said, a smirk playing on her face at the fact that his brother was on her side. She turned away and grabbed Fred's hand, pulling him away. "Come on, let's dance!"

Fred smirked at the two brothers before following her to join more of their group on the floor. Mikey was actually really good at dancing, just like he said he was, causing Emily to squeal even more over him. Kerry and Don were further of, dancing at a rather awkward space since neither one exactly felt confident, Kerry after Emily had bashed her unintentionally and Don just because...he was Don.

"Hey, Lex?" Phoebe asked, moving in closer so the redhead could hear her better.

"What's up?" Alex asked the girl curiously.

"The redhead is checking you out," she said.

Alex didn't believe that whatsoever. She turned her head, looking for the redheaded Hamato brother, finding him sitting at a table by the drink counter all by himself, just watching his brothers and the group of people they had met that night. His eyes, however, had been primarily focused on Alex's dancing form.

The girl's face went as red as her hair. She turned quickly, preventing him from seeing the blush and the fact that she had caught him staring at her. "W-why is he staring?" she stammered out.

"Because you look amazing," Phoebe joked a bit.

"But we don't like each other!" Alex said. "He doesn't think I'm _cute_! He thinks I'm a _Butch_!"

"You don't have to like each other to think the other person's cute. Physical attraction and all."

"B-But, like I said, he's basically told me he doesn't even like the way I look!" Alex said, crossing her arms over her chest. "A-And really hot bad boys like him don't like girls like me. Not that I would want him to, the _hothead_."

"Uh, aren't you the one pairing Don the nerd, and Kerry the bad girl together?" Phoebe asked with a raised eyebrow. "And you said hot by the way," she winked.

"Yeah, but Kerry's bringing out a more confident side of Don, while he calms her," Alex said. "They compliment each other. Raph and I would kill each other if we were left alone in two minutes."

"Psh, they just met Alex," she chuckled. "And love, you two just meet too, maybe you'll help each other too."

"Oh yeah? How? By putting each other out of our miseries?"

"Or maybe giving him someone to vent to and you someone you don't have to pretend around," a voice said and Alex turned to see Kerry, who had approached when Don went to get a drink.

"Pretend? What am I pretending to do?" Alex asked.

"I know you're not a strong as you make your self out to be," Kerry murmured to her in her ear.

Alex gulped, subconsciously pushing a couple strands of hair out of her face that had fallen out of her up do from dancing. "B-But like I said, no matter how attractive I may or may not, which I am not, find him, he doesn't think I'm good looking!"

"Some guys aren't honest will their feelings," Phoebe said with a serious nod. "And it looks like you aren't either."

"I-I'm gonna go get my drink," Alex said, crossing her arms over her chest as she walked away.

Alex found out upon returning to the table that she had run out of her drink. She snuck away to head over to where the drink counter was to get a refill and spotted Raph leaning against the counter, having just been watching the group. Alex got another drink and turned to head back to the group, but stopped, glancing at the male redhead.

She sighed and rolled her eyes, walking over to the guy. "Hey," she said, leaning against the counter next to him, taking a sip of her soda. "You know, you don't have to stay over here by yourself. You're more than welcome to come join us."

"I'm fine where I am." Raph grumbled taking a drink. "I don't need you or your stupid friends."

Alex glanced down at her glass. "They're not stupid, Raph," she said, using his real name. "And I don't appreciate you saying they are. You don't hear me insulting your brothers, do you?"

"Yeah, well I don't appreciate you stringing my brothers along."he snipped at her.

"Stringing them along?" she asked, completely confused.

"They all think you're their friend. Mikey freaking adores you, Leo thinks your cool, and now you seem to be hooking Don up with your dumb hick friend," he listed. "But I know that Mikey is just a job for you and you'll leave as soon as it's done. Leaving my brothers hurt. And I don't like it when someone hurts my brothers."

"You know what?" Alex asked, turning to face him, a deep frown on her face from actually getting hurt by his words. "I really like your brothers. And ask anybody, I wouldn't do that to people I like." Alex placed her barely touched drink on the counter before turning to Raph one last time. "I came over here to be nice. I want you to have a good time to, but whatever, Raph. Be that way. I'm gonna go home."

Alex turned away and walked over to the booth where her jacket was. She pulled it on and snuck away without anybody but Raph noticing.


	5. Drama

Chapter 5

Drama

Alex stalked through the night on her way back home from Franco's, arms wrapped tightly around her, trying to keep herself warm. The shirt Kerry let her borrow was thin and her black jacket wasn't much better. She knew she should have brought a thicker jacket with her. She had lived in New York City her whole life. She knew how it could get at night in September.

Alex felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She pulled it out to see that it was just Kerry texting her. She sighed, opening the text, knowing very well she was about to get scolded for leaving without anybody to walk her home.

 **Heterosextual Partner: Are you insane?! Where are you?!**

 **Alex: I'm going home.**

 **Heterosextual Partner: Stay where you are. I'm coming right now.**

 **Alex: No, you Fruitcake. Stay and hang with Don. I'm fine. I can walk home by myself.**

 **Heterosextual Partner: I don't like this Alex! You know that!**

 **Alex: And I don't care. I'm almost home anyway.**

That last part had been a lie. She had a good thirty minute walk ahead of her, but Alex liked to walk, almost as much as she liked to run or do ninjutsu at her family dojo. Plus, she needed some time to clear her head after Raph went off on her like that.

 **Homosexual Partner: At least call me when you get home. I don't want to have anything happen to you.** _ **Please.**_

 **Alex: I promise. Have fun with Donatello for me.**

 **Homosexual Life Partner: Very funny.**

Alex glanced up from her phone, feeling her stomach drop. She had that feeling every once in a while. It was her warning system. It could have been anything from tripping over a crack to a serial killer stalking her, but as she looked around, she didn't see anything, so she went back to her text.

 **Alex: I'm serious. Talk to him. Get to know him. He likes you and you like him.**

 **Homosexual Partner: Life isn't that simple or happy Alex!**

 **Alex: Not always, but it can be better if you're just willing to give some people a chance.**

Alex's ear almost twitched, thinking she heard someone. She looked up again, still trying to figure out why she was on edge. She looked around still not seeing against out of the ordinary. She had to have been freaking herself out, right?

 **Homosexual Partner: Trust me. It's not going to work. We're fine just as friends.**

 **Alex: Yeah, you're so into him.**

 **Homosexual Partner: .**

 **Alex: No chance i**

Alex's stomach dropped a great bit, causing her to freeze in her spot. A very large hand shot out of the dark alley next to her, covering her mouth while the other secured itself around her waist, pulling her into the alley, causing her to drop her phone on the ground, her finger accidentally hitting the send butted.

Alex screamed out, but the hand was so large that it completely covered her mouth and her nose, cutting off her air supply. She squirmed, trying to move her arms up, but the man was too strong in his grip. He had to be a giant, Alex found, to be able to do both of those at the same time.

Alex managed to bring her legs up though, before swinging it backwards and kicked the guy hard in the groin. He groaned, dropping the girl and doubling over. Alex fell to her knees, tearing the knees of her jeans as well as the skin there as she scurried across the alley to get to her feet. She spun around, looking directly at her attacker, who stood at almost seven feet tall.

There was only one person she knew who was that big.

"Hun?" she asked, voice breaking from having screamed at the top of her oxygen deprived lungs moments before.

Hun Hanson was a guy that went to school with her. He was known for being the worst guy in school. He was a bully, a drug dealer, a thief, and, worst of all, a _Purple Dragon._ The blond haired, black eyed giant also happened to take martial arts classes at the Foot Institute, a rival dojo of Alex's family's place.

"You bitch!" the teenager growled, trying to sit up through the pain in his groin.

"What the hell?" she asked, backing up against the brick wall, which wasn't a smart move.

Hun pushed up off the ground and lunged at the sixteen year old. Alex went to move, but the dumpster beside her blocked her way, causing her to get hit in the face with a powerful, large punch. She felt dizzy, almost losing consciousness from the single blow, but managed to drop down and slide between his knees.

The blond reached down, grabbing her arm as she slid feet first under him, pulling her up off of the ground. Alex cried out, fearing he was going to break her arm with just one squeeze. If not that, he was going to leave a large hand print wrapped around her thin, yet strong arm. He used his other hand to punch her in the stomach, causing her to scream again. There was a crack and Alex felt a huge pain shoot through her midsection, informing her that some of her ribs cracked.

"Master will be please," Hun stated, leaving Alex completely clueless with that statement.

Alex caught her breath, though teas were still running down her face from the still present pain. "Nope," she said, lashing out with her other hand, hitting him on the side of the neck, causing him to lose consciousness instantly.

 _Oh, I love pressure points,_ Alex though, landing on her feet.

Alex shook her head, an angry glare on her face. She quickly moved, kicking Hun in the ribs before she bolted out of the alley, grabbing her phone off the ground before pushing her legs as fast as she could down the street until she finally made it to her apartment building. She huffed, entering the lobby and then the stairwell before finally dropping to her knees, trying to breathe and calm herself.

Once she wasn't hyperventilating, she glanced down at her phone to see all of the texts she had gotten from Kerry due to the message she had accidentally sent when she had been dropped.

 **Homosexual Partner: What?**

 **Homosexual Partner: Alex? Lexi?**

 **Homosexual Partner: This isn't funny! Answer me woman!**

 **Homosexual Partner: On my way**

 _Great, just great_ , Alex thought, letting her head fall back into the brick wall behind her, causing her to wince and place a hand there. _Now I'm going to have to deal with Hun wherever I go and Kerry! And I have to find makeup to cover up my bruises!_

 **Alex: No, i'm fi,mes. justs dropoed my pjhne sdn sdfinne mu ;mess,**

Alex sighed angrily at herself, looking down at her shaking hands. She shook them out a minute, trying to calm herself down, even rubbing them on her pants to try and get the shaking to stop before she retyped that text.

 **Alex: No, I'm fine. I just dropped my phone and skinned my knees.**

 **Homosexual Partner: You're not shitting me right?**

 **Alex: I'm fine, Fruitcake. I'm in my apartment building. Perfectly safe.**

 **Homosexual Partner:...okay. I'll hear from you when you get home. The guys offered to walk me, we live in the same direction.**

Alex knew very well that if she tried to talk to anybody they would know that something was wrong. She had managed to get her hands to stop shaking, but she was a mess. Her voice would not have been able to stay steady if she even tried to talk to anybody. There was no way she was going to be able to talk to Kerry without tipping her off that she was lying.

 **Alex: Can't talk. Phone's about to die. Talk to you tomorrow.**

Alex smirked. _There, that'll work_ , she thought. _That's believable enough._

 **Homosexual Partner: ...fine...**

 **Alex: Thank the guys for me for walking you home.**

Alex sighed in relief. She slowly pushed herself off the ground, groaning as she did so due to her ribs. She slowly made her way up the stairs and to her apartment. She fumbled with her keys before finally managing to open the door and slip into her bedroom without any attention. She was thankful that her brothers worked the Friday classes at the dojo and would have already been in bed, like her parents.

Alex dropped her things on her dresser, looking at herself in the mirror. She had a large bruise on her face where Hun had put his hand. She signed, knowing she'd have to take some of her mother's makeup to cover it up. It was going to be such a pain trying to put it on without hurting herself.

Alex slowly and very painfully pulled the green top off, as well as her jeans, showing off her skinned knees, handprinted arm, bruised waist and rib cage. She was going to have to wear long sleeved skirts for at least two weeks until the one on her arm went away, as well as change in the bathroom stall for gym class instead of in front of her gym locker like she normally did.

 _Kerry will know something's up when I do that,_ Alex thought, turning to crawl into her bed without getting into her pajamas. _Uh, I don't want to deal with this now. I'll figure it out tomorrow._

* * *

Alex managed to get her mom's concealer the next morning to cover up her bruises. Her brothers were observant enough to notice (though if her oldest brother Elliot had been home he would have noticed right away, she had never been more glad that he was studying in Japan for the next couple of weeks), and her parents were away at a martial arts demonstration for the weekend, so she didn't have to worry about them.

What the redhead really had to worry about was going to school on Monday to face Kerry and Freddy, who would be able to see something was wrong with her right away, whether it was through the makeup or from how stiffly she was moving due to her ribs. She was not looking forward to school. Not. One. Bit.

Alex got to school a little early and went straight to her locker, slightly hiding her face in it as she dumped and grabbed various items that she did and didn't need when Kerry arrived, going to her locker right across from Alex's, talking to her as she to dropped and grabbed things for classes.

"Mikey is adorable." Kerry was saying. "He like a little puppy. Leo was really cool too, offering his jacket and stuff. Raph was a jerk though, he kept calling me a freaking hick!" She grumbled before peeking at Alex. "Lexi? Hey, Dorkfish you listening?"

"Uh, yeah," Alex said, feeling pain in her jaw as she spoke, still turned to her locker to hide her "Painted" face. "Sorry. What about Don?"

"D-Donnie?" Kerry asked. "He was a...a real gentleman. He spoke softly and politely, even walked on the side of the sidewalk closest to the road. I don't see many New York guys do that."

"Nah, Don's a sweety," Alex said. "He's a keeper. So take that little piece of advice. Keep him."

"I'm sure me and _all_ the boys will keep in touch...even Raph's not too bad," Kerry said in thought.

"Not too bad?" Alex asked with a scoff. "Right. That's a good one."

"I'm serious, even though he was insulting me, I noticed that he, well, he wasn't out right mean," Kerry said. "I-I can't explain it okay. I just know he isn't being as bad a most people," she said quickly. "He was also always on the look out, watching our backs."

"I'll believe he looked out while on their way home, because his brothers were there, but Raph's an ass," Alex said.

"I don't know, I think me and him are a lot a like." Kerry shrugged.

"You two are nothing alike," Alex shot back, turning to look at Kerry, moving too quickly. She felt the pain rush through her ribs, but ignored it as she went on. "Raph's a total ass. I tried to be nice to him that night and he totally went off on me with no reason. At least you are nice to people when they're nice to you!"

Kerry didn't say anything at first, just staring at her, her face completely blank, like it was when someone made a snide comment about her."Bathroom," Kerry said harshly, grabbing her arm and pulling.

Alex winced at Kerry's hand on the bruise on her arm where Hun had picked her up. When they were in the bathroom and Kerry let go, she rubbed it gently through her long sleeved black shirt. "What is it, Kerry?" Alex asked, playing dumb. "I'm too tired to deal with this kind of drama right now."

"What the fuck happened, O'Neil? You're hurt!" Kerry hissed as she tossed her bag on the ground, and began digging through it.

"I'm fine," Alex denied.

"Don't you dare lie to me!" Kerry snapped at her as she pulled out a first aid kit, a miniature one, from her back pack. "Take off the sweater." She said jerking her chin.

"No," Alex said with a sign, giving in. "And it's not what you think. I, uh, already took care of it. Honestly, Kerry. I already fixed myself up."

"I've had busted ribs before, and you can not wrap them your self," Kerry grumbled she said and jerked the sleeve of her shirt up, showing the handprint on her arm. Kerry's face darkened more. "Who?"

"Don't worry about it, Kerry," Alex said. "I showed the guy who's boss. He won't mess with me again." Or so she hoped. Hun was nuts.

"Unless he's in jail or in the ground, I doubt that." Kerry scoffed and crossed her arms, kit still in her hand. "Now take off the shirt or I'll do it for you."

Alex sighed and walked to the door, locking it. She then slowly walked back to Kerry and painfully pulled off her top, exposing the still extremely deep colored bruises littering her mid section.

"This is nothing?" Kerry asked, voice calmer now that she had complied. She set the kit down and opened it. It was packed with supplies ranging from simple bandages and wraps to razor blades and sutures. She got out her biggest wrap and walked over.

"I've gotten worse from competitions," Alex stated.

"Yeah, but those are regulated fights," Kerry said having been to a few her self. "This was an attack. It was vicious and intended to do harm, not just a basic spar," she said and began prodding her ribs gently, trying to see if there was any cracking.

"Obviously you've never been to, ow, a competition with the Foot Institute," Alex said. "This is how you come out after every spar."

"Then they need to be shut down," Kerry growled a bit as she started wrapping. "Luckily from what I tell it's just bruising of your ribs. It will heal in 3 to 5 days."

"You don't think we've tried that?" Alex asked, too tired to get too worked up about it all right then. "And like I said, I already knew that. I've fixed myself and my brothers up enough to know."

"Well we need to try something else," Kerry murmured. "And by _we_ , I mean _us_. They did this to you, I'm not going to let them get away with it," she said as she finished tying off the bandage. "I'm in."

"Kerry, I'm not doing anything about this right now," Alex said. "Not until I'm healed up."

"I know that," Kerry scoffed. "I'm not stupid." She went to clean up her kit.

"I never said you were," Alex said. "And can we keep this between the two of us? I don't want the others freaking out about it."

Kerry breathed through her nose, regaining her composure as she nodded slowly. "Yeah, okay. But only cause you asked," she said as she put her extensive emergency kit away.

"Can we get out of here now?" Alex asked, putting her shirt back on.

"Yeah," Kerry said picking up her backpack. "...I'm pissed at you," she stated suddenly, turning her head to hide the tears building up in her frustration.

"I know," Alex said, not really caring. This was why she didn't want anybody to know. She didn't want them to worry about her. She knew how to take care of herself. She didn't need them to do it. They already had enough stress on them from school work and home life, especially Kerry.

"Good," Kerry said. "We'll talk later," she said and unlocked the door and held it open for her.

"Thanks," she said, walking out, only to be knocked to the ground, hissing from the pain of hitting the doorframe with her back. "Ow," she moaned.

"Lexa?" Fred asked, bending down next to Alex looking at her in concern. Kerry bit back a swear as she stepped out too, easing behind Alex, helping her up and steadying her inconspicuously.

"Morning, Freddy," Alex greeted, a small, pained smiled on her face.

"Morning," he said looking at her, sensing something was off from the way she was standing with Kerry so close. "What's up?"

Alex shook her head slightly. "Nothing," she said, still trying to smile. Fred narrowed his eyes further.

"Something's up," he said, sure of himself as his eyes drifted down her form. "Is something hurting?"

"Listen we've got to get to class," Kerry said, making a move to cover for Alex. She might have been pissed, but Alex asked her to do this for her.

"Bullshit," Fred said, stepping in their way. "Classes don't start for another fifteen minutes."

"I have to talk to my teacher and Alex offered to come with me," Kerry said her poker face in place.

Fred glared at the older girl, still firmly in their way. He shook his head, looking at Alex once more, narrowing his eyes trying to figure out what was wrong with her smile. He moved one of his hands to her cheek, gently placing it where the bruise was, causing her to flinch. "Lexa, what's wrong? Tell me," he practically begged.

Alex glanced down to her feet, not wanting to lie but not wanting him to know the truth either. "It's nothing," she said, voice small.

Fred looked at his hand then pressed a little harder with his thumb, rubbing away some of the make up. He froze, staring at the spot on her cheek before looking at her face. "Lexa, what is this?" he asked lowly.

"I-I got jumped," she said. "Friday night. It's nothing. I took care of it. I swear."

"You got jumped?! And didn't say anything?" Fred asked her grabbing her arms. "What the hell, Lexa!? What were you thinking!?"

"Ow, Freddy, let go," she said, eyes showing the pain his grip was causing on her arm. Kerry grabbed Fred's wrist and pulled it off of her.

"Fred, let her go," Kerry said softly. Fred turned his anger to her, shoving her back so she hit the lockers.

"You knew, didn't you?!" he snapped. "And you weren't going to say anything? What the hell?!" He said getting in her face. Kerry stared up at him, just taking it in silence with her poker face.

" _Richard Miles Frederickson!_ " Alex yelled, her face bright red from anger.

"What?" he asked, looking at her.

"She just found out this morning too," Alex told him.

"It doesn't matter! She was covering it up," Fred said pointing at the older girl. She hadn't moved from her pinned spot yet.

"Because I asked her to!" Alex answered.

"She has no right," Fred said darkly. "I'm your best friend. We're supposed to take care of eachother."

"And so is she!" Alex yelled back. "And I didn't tell her either, _okay_? I didn't tell _anybody_! And this is _exactly_ why I didn't!"

Fred stood there in silence for a bit. It had never really been said out loud that Kerry was also Alex's best friend. It was only until now that that line had been crossed and his position was verbally contested. "What gives you the right to do that? We care about you, that's why we would want to know."

"And that's why I didn't," Alex said, the hot tears running down her cheeks. "You guys have enough to worry about as it is." She wrapped her arms around her chest, being careful not to move too quickly or to hold herself to tightly. "You don't need any of this to go along with that."

"That's selfish," Kerry said quietly but it shut the other two up. "Don't you think we want to worry about you? We don't mind the burden if it makes you better. We like seeing you happy, Lexi. It makes us happy. When you hide things like that from us, it only makes it worse."

"And when you seem me like this?" Alex asked rhetorically. "I want you guys to be happy to. And like I said, I took care of it all. You didn't need to worry about it. I'm fine. I'm happy. There' no need for any of this."

"I don't know about Fred," Kerry said. "But I like knowing when something is wrong so I can do the best of my ability to fix it," Kerry said and suddenly hit the locker. "We're going to worry anyway! How would you feel if we were hiding something like this, huh?"

"For once I agree with you, Texas," Fred said crossing his arms. "We are going to worry no matter what. But if you come to us it will help us worry less about things we think you're hiding. Honesty helps, Lexa."

Alex stared down at the ground and didn't look back up until Fred gently placed his hand under her chin, directing her head up to him. "Promise me this, Lexa," he said, moving in closer to her. "I-I can't stand to see you like this, and I can't take it when you don't tell me the truth. It hurts me more. So, please don't do that to me, Lexa. Promise you won't?"

The redhead's face moved to rest against Fred's strong chest, her hands gripping the front of his shirt as he gently wrapped his arms around her, making sure not to hurt her, having not known where her injuries were. He pulled her closer when she nodded her head gently, silently telling him what he wanted to hear.

Fred kissed the top of her head, glancing at Kerry with a troubled look. "You're going to be the death of me, Lexa."

"I'm sorry," she said, hiding further into his chest. "I love you, Freddy. I'm so sorry."

Kerry looked back at him, her poker face in place as she crossed her arms, looking away as if giving them privacy. Her green eyes dark and mysterious. It was then he realized, how much did they really know about Kerry? But that wasn't his main focus right then. No, Alex was forever going to be his priority.

And that girl was really going to be the death of him, he swore.


	6. Escort

Chapter 6

Escort

It had taken a whole lot of convincing on Alex part to have Fred and Kerry let Alex walked to the Hamato's on her own after stopping home to grab a basketball. Plus, Kerry had started taking some shifts at April's, though it wasn't exactly Alex's shifts, and Fred had been doing the same at the dojo. They both had to get to work, providing Alex with reason to walk by herself.

Alex stood at the Hamato's dragon door for the third time, waiting for an answer once more, basketball tucked under her arm at her hip, resting on the bruise, but she ignored the pain, having gotten a little more used to it as the weekend and the day went on.

The door fling open and a body collided with Alex, causing her to gasp at the pain and drop the basketball. She almost slipped off the steps and fell down the stairs, but the blond Michelangelo had too strong of a grip on her to allow that to happen.

" _Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow_!" she repeated until Mikey pulled back, looking at Alex scared that he had done something wrong.

"I'm sorry!" he said softly looking at her fearfully. "Did I hug too hard?" he asked worriedly. "I'm sorry," he apologized again.

"Honey, you're okay," Alex insisted. "It's okay. But yeah, we'll go with that," Alex said, not wanting to go into the details of why she was in pain. She had already done far too much of that already that day.

"Uh, okay," Mikey said confused before spotting the basketball. "What's that for?" he asked.

Alex smiled, picking the basketball off the ground and tossing it to Mikey. "Hands on learning," she said. "You're going to memorize the periodic table of elements."

"By playing basketball?" Mikey asked, eyebrow raised.

"You'll see," Alex said. "You ready to head out to the park?"

"Yeah," he said. "Just let me tell Master Splinter and grab my shoes. Should I ask the guys if they want to come?"

Alex shrugged carefully. "Sure," she said. "As long as they don't distract you from working."

"Sweet!"

* * *

Alex pushed herself off of the ground with a groan, wiping her hands on her pants trying to get some of the chalk off of them. She tossed the chalk over to the grass before turning to look at Mikey's confused blue eyes.

"Okay, so the point of the game is to move from each each element in order. You say the name of the element from the actual name of the element from the atomic symbol you're standing on and then you shoot. If you get the name wrong, you go back to the beginning. If you miss the basket, you go back to the beginning." Alex dribbled a couple times before passing the ball to the blonde. "Sound easy enough?"

"Uh, we have different definitions of easy," Mikey stated, dribbling the ball sadly.

"Hey, you'll do fine," Alex said. "It's just a game, Mikey. Not a test. It's just a way to help you remember the elements."

"Yeah, but there's so many of them," he said.

"Okay, why don't we start off with the gases first," Alex said. "And then when you get those done, you can go to the non-metals. If you get any wrong once you get there, just go back to the start of the non-metals. We don't have to go all the way back to the beginning."

"Breaking it up is probably the best," Don said from his spot under the tree, his face in his book still.

"Yeah, I know I wouldn't be able to do them all at once," Alex said.

"But it's a very clever idea," Leo said, eyes closed as he meditated next to Donatello under the tree.

"Thanks, Leo," Alex said, smiling softly at the black haired teen.

"Who would have thought Butch would have a good idea," Raph said from the other side of the court, shooting hoops by himself.

Alex ignored that, just as she had ignored everything he has said on their way to the part. She was still upset with him from Friday and thought it best to just ignore him completely. She turned to Mikey and waved him on, urging him to begin the game. She watched and listened carefully to the names he said as she walked over to the grass and carefully sat down between Leo and Don.

Don smiled and scooted over for her as she sat down. "This is perfect for Mikey. I never thought of using his hyperactivity to his advantage."

"Yeah, I actually thought of it when I was in the shower," Alex said.

The boys four boys froze for a brief second, as if someone had hit pause. Don in turning his page, Mikey in the middle of dribbling, Raph mid-shot, and she didn't even think Leo was breathing. She shook her head, giggling slightly at their reaction. She forgot they weren't used to things like that. Most of her guy friends at school were completely comfortable with a statement like that.

"O-O-Oh, is t-t-that so?" Don said clearing his throat, pretending they didn't all just freeze.

Alex laughed harder, tipping backwards on the grass slightly. When she landed on her back she gasped, shooting up straight, holding her mid section. She had to hold back another gasp from the pain of her quick movement as well.

"A-Alex, are you okay?" Don asked dropping his book and shifting to look over her and Leo placed a hand on her shoulder gently. Mikey stopped and looked over.

"Oh, yeah," she said, waving it off. "Just sleep on my back funny last night, is all."

"You sure? You are moving a little too stiffly for that. And you're holding your ribs," Leo said softly as he sat her up gently, hands careful with her.

"She's wearing makeup," Raph stated simply from across the court, not looking over as he shot and swooshed a three pointer.

"W-What?" Mikey asked and came over. He peered at her face and nodded. "You're right! But how did you know Raphie?"

"Yeah, Raphie?" Alex asked, liking the nickname Mikey had used. "How do you know?"

"Cause your face isn't as ugly as usual!" Raph snapped as he heard the nickname.

Alex sighed and shook her head, laying back on the grass, moving her New York Rangers cap over her face to block out the sun even more, even though they were in the shade. "Keep going, Mikey," Alex instructed. "You've only made it through seven elements."

"O-Oh," Mikey said and picked up his ball again. "Okay Alex," he said but was obviously still worried.

" _Why_ are you wearing make-up?" Leo asked her.

"Because I got jumped and they tried to suffocate me. I'm covering up the bruise," she said, making it sound sarcastic when it was really the complete truth.

"What!?" Don yelled, turning to the girl.

"Sarcasm, Don," Alex said. "It's nothing special. Acne. It's just acne. Cover Up, you know?"

"That was an awfully specific sarcastic comment," Raph spoke up suddenly his ball resting in his hands, forgotten.

In a quick movement, Alex's hat was pulled off of her face and Raph was next to her. He licked his finger before rubbing it on her face, taking off the makeup.

"Dude! _Ew_!" she squealed, moving away from him, trying to cover her face with her hand. "What the hell is your problem?"

"Who did it, huh?" Raph asked in a deadly tone. "I know it wasn't the hick, she was with us. Or that Fred guy, he went home much later than you. So who did it?!" he asked sharply.

Alex glanced up into his green eyes hesitantly, surprised by his concerned behavior. _Maybe Kerry's right,_ she thought. _Maybe he isn't that bad_. She shook her head, getting that thought out of her head. "It's nothing," she said. "I took care of it."

"Yeah but did you take care of it good enough?" Raph snapped and sat her up. "What else? What other injuries?"

"Raph, careful with her!" Don said to him pulling his hands away.

"Alex, why didn't you say anything?" Leo asked as Mikey rushed over.

"Angel Cakes?" Mikey asked worriedly.

"Angel Cakes?" she asked, trying to change the subject. Mikey opened his mouth to answer with a sweet smile but Raph wasn't letting it go.

"Come on, Butch, it's not your dad, was it?" he asked awkwardly. But of course it did look a bit bad for her showing up with bruises and hiding them.

"No!" she yelled angrily.

"I was just asking!" Raph yelled back. "What am I supposed to think, huh? You hiding bruises like that!? Sorry for being nice!" he snapped and tossed the ball at her before getting up to for a run.

"Raphael!" Leo yelled after him.

Alex caught the ball easily, despite her injuries. She was hurt, but that didn't mean she still didn't have fast reflexes. She shook her head, looking off to the side when she finally admitted, "I really did get jumped."

Raph stopped and looked back at her.

Don touched her shoulder. "Why didn't you say anything, I mean, That's gotta hurt, right?"

Alex shrugged. "I've had worse," she said. "Scrapes and bruised ribs aren't anything new."

"Did you at least get them checked?" Mikey asked her.

"Yeah," Alex said. "I'm fine. Honestly guy."

"Whatever," Raph scoffed and started free throws.

"If," Don started to say, still worried, "if you're sure, Alex."

"If it makes you feel better, I knocked the guy out," she put out there.

Mikey couldn't help but laugh a bit. "Really?"

Alex laughed and pointed to where she had hit Hun on the neck. "Pressure points, honey. Pressure points."

"How do you know about pressure points?" Leo asked curiously.

Alex shrugged, not willing to talk about her family dojo. "A girl's gotta know how to defend herself. Even against a seven foot tall guy."

"Seven foot?" Raph asked, face falling as he turned to the girl. He stalked over and knelt down beside her.

"I only know one guy that big," Leo said glaring at the ground.

"And he's not a good guy," Don said putting his book away.

"We've had to go against him at a couple martial arts competitions," Mikey said. "And I didn't make out that well." He looked away, rubbing his arm absentmindedly.

"What the hell did Hun want?" Raph asked. "He _always_ has some kind of motive."

"Wait, _you guys_ know Hun?" Alex asked.

"We just covered that," Raph stated. "How the hell do _you_ know him? I thought you were randomly jumped!"

"I never said random," Alex said, shaking her head. "Hun Hanson goes to my school."

"But what did he want?" Leo asked seriously.

"I don't know! He didn't say, but what does a guy like him always want? Money, drugs, power, something like that," Alex answered semi-honestly. She really _didn't_ know what Hun wanted. Whatever it was would have pleased his master though. "He's a known bully around our school and he doesn't hide the fact that he's a Purple Dragon."

"You really took out Hun?" Mikey asked, sitting down with his legs crossed under him. "B-But you're so tiny!"

"You're changing the subject again, Mikey," Don pointed out as if used to doing that.

"Sorry," he apologized.

"Why did he attack you?" Raph pressed not believing her.

"I. Don't. Know," she repeated slowly. She looked straight into his eyes, being completely honest. "It came out of nowhere. I don't know what he was up to."

"Don't walk home alone anymore," Raph ordered her, eyes narrowing. "Hun isn't one to give up."

"I hate to say it," Don said. "But Raph's right. You got lucky, Alex," he said worried for his first female friend.

Alex glanced down at Raph's hands, not wanting to look at any of them in the eyes. _They're right,_ she thought. _I may be able to take care of myself, more than they know. But Hun is, well, Hun. He doesn't give up._

"One or more of us will walk you home," Leo said. "And we'll pick you up after school when you need to tutor Mikey. That or get a friend to come with you."

"I can't ask you guys to do that," Alex said, shaking her head. _Nor do I want it!_

"Sure you can, Beautiful!" Mikey smiled, standing to do a pose as if a hero on the front of a comic. "That's what friends do!" he said then deflated. "Unless, we aren't friends," he murmured, his blue eyes turning into almost a kicked puppy look.

Alex stood up, which freaked Don out, but she ignored it. "Hey," she said, bumping his chin up, making him look at her. "We're friends, Mikey. You're stuck with me."

Mikey smiled and hugged her again, this time careful of her injuries. "Then let us walk you home."

Alex sighed, nodding her head. "Okay," she agreed. "Someone picks me up at school one tutoring days and then drops me off after. But that's it. No more charity. I'll have my brothers take care of me the rest of the way."

"Deal," Leo laughed a bit and stood to take her hand in a friendly manner. "You're our first friend, Alex."

"Yeah, let us worry about you," Don said grinning at her while Raph was quiet for once. Not saying anything insulting.

Alex wanted to remark in the whole worry thing, but she remembered her conversation that morning with Kerry and Fred and swallowed her comment. "Thanks, guys," she said, opting for something that wouldn't cause another argument.

"Yeah," Raph murmured. "No problem...Butch,"

"Raphie."


	7. The Bully

Chapter 7

The Bully

For the whole week and the follow, Alex was picked up three days a week primarily by Mikey or Don, though Leo has filled in one day when Don was hands deep in grease and oil from working on some motorcycle or something and Mikey had been grounded for not cleaning his room (and, boy, Alex had to agree with Master Splinter on that one, because Mikey's room was a dump).

The other two days Kerry and Fred often walked home with Alex, normally one or the other. Fred generally hung around on Tuesdays because he hated Tuesdays as much as Mondays, while Kerry stuck around on Thursdays until she had to go to work at April's, which was only about three or four blocks from Alex's apartment building.

Alex had never been more busy in her life, she found. She worked, basically, three jobs if tutoring was counted as a job, though she didn't get paid. She worked with Mikey on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from about three o'clock in the afternoon, thirty minutes after she'd get out of school until four-thirty, though she'd been staying a little later lately due to the materials natural progression and Mikey's slower pick up on the information. After which Alex would basically run to April's to work in the 2nd Time Around until closing time, at around nine o'clock. She was just lucky April allowed her to work on her homework while she was working at the counter.

Tuesdays and Thursdays weren't as busy right after school, seeing as she had some time to hang out with her friends for an hour or so after school. to which they generally spent time doing homework while watching TV or listening to much. At five o'clock, Alex had to go to work at the dojo, helping instruct classes until nine o'clock, and then help clean up the dojo, which took another hour or so.

Fridays were easier because she only had tutoring to attend to. She often went out with her friends, much like she had the night of the Franco's incident, though now she didn't' leave without Kerry or Fred, though Freddy more often than Kerry.

Saturdays were the busiest of all. Alex spent the early morning setting up everything for the dojo. Classes started at seven o'clock in the morning (though it was yoga, not martial arts) and the various classes of yoga, ninjutsu and cardio kickboxing didn't end until ten in the evening. Alex generally didn't' get to sleep until after midnight on those day, but she had nothing to worry about because she had no work on Sundays. Sundays were for sleep, to do homework and to study.

But it wasn't Sunday, it was one of Alex's busier days, being Wednesday and the first day of October, which meant her birthday was coming up in a couple weeks. Alex was rather annoyed that her birthday was coming up. She hated her birthday. She generally didn't tell people when it was. Fred was one of the only people in her group of friends that knew when her birthday was and he kept it quiet for her because he knew just how much she didn't like celebrating it, though he would always take her out to dinner just the two of them for her birthday.

"Where are you going?" a familiar going laughed from around the corner.

Alex glanced up from her watch having hear the high pitched, cringe worthy voice of Amanda Snow filling her ears. She glanced around the corner of the bench she was leaning against that wrapped around the school to see the blonde teenager.

What Alex saw, she most definitely didn't' like. Amanda had her rather orange (caused by excessive fake spray tans) hand on a younger girls arm was pulling her roughly to the side. "What the fuck was that?" She said lowly to the girl.

"I just want to go home," the younger girl said in a timid voice. She was most likely a freshman, Alex found. The young girl, whose hair was dyed a bright green tried to move around her, desperate to make an exit.

"You know the world would just be better if you weren't in it right?" she whispered lowly to the girl."God, it's kind of pathetic if you think Arthur would believe I was cheating on him with your brother."

"But you are!" the younger girl stated. "And it's no fair to either of them! You told my brother you broke up with Arthur!"

"There's no harm in what I'm doing." Amanda smirked. "I'll be done with him soon."

Alex scoffed, moving out into the open. She crossed her arms over her chest, making her way over to her ex-friend and the young girl. "Who?" Alex asked. "Both, I hope, because all you're doing is hurting everybody involved."

The redhead removed the blonde's hand off of the young girl's arm and turned her attention to her. "Why don't you head home?" she suggested. "Tell our brother what she's really like. That should end things."

"Thanks," the girl muttered, scurrying away from the two older Juniors.

"Please, Lex what do _you_ even know about this stuff?" Amanda laughed, yanking her arm away. "I feel so sorry for you," she said in a pouty way.

"You feel sorry for me?" Alex asked, an eyebrow raised questioningly. She had no idea where she was going with this, but she was finding it slightly amusing. What was she talking about? Alex was perfectly fine! Nothing was going on with her!

"It's sad really how no guy would ever want to date you," Amanda said shrugging. "I mean look at you! Are you even a girl to begin with? I'd get my money back on that sex change _Lex."_

Alex's smirk dropped, her stomach sinking from the low blow. _What_? she thought. "W-what's wrong with the way I look?" she asked, no amusement or confidence left in her voice anymore.

"Come on," Amanda said putting a hand on the girl shoulder, as if really concerned for the girl over the matter. "I know those hormone pills must mess with your emotion, but I didn't think you're delusional. Look in the mirror."

"I do look in the mirror," Alex stated, shifting on her feet slightly, due to how uncomfortable she was. "I-I just don't go over the top."

"Maybe you should!" Amanda said as if giving advice. "Maybe then you'd get a boyfriend."

"What's the point in having a boyfriend if he doesn't like how you look without any of that?" she asked, thinking she had a valid point.

"But if they never see you at your best, they have no hope that you'd ever get past your worst, right?" Amanda said shooting her down. "They'll never take that first step to asking you out. When was the last time a guy complimented you without you having makeup, who was _not_ one of your friends."

Alex opened her mouth to reply, but she found she had no answer. She had Mikey and Don tell her she was pretty once or twice, but they were her friends. It was their job to make her feel better about that kind of stuff. And then there was Raph, who would always tell her that she was more man than girl. Maybe he was right. Maybe he wasn't just teasing her and was just stating facts.

"Oh, but I'm being so insensitive," Amanda said. "You might not be into guys. But even lesbians like girls who look good."

"I-I'm not a lesbian," Alex muttered, glancing away from the blonde. _I couldn't even get_ that _attention if I wanted to?_

"I've known you for years, Alex, and you've never had a boyfriend," Amanda pointed out.

Alex wrapped her arms around herself. "S-So?" she asked. "M-Maybe I'm not looking."

"Maybe there's a reason."

"Alex?" A familiar friendly voice called out, this one sweeter and more welcome. Don had arrived finally to pick her up. "You there?" He asked as he looked around the front of the school where normal stood.

Alex snapped out of her daze and turned to look at Don's head popping around the corner. "U-Uh, yeah," Alex called back to him. "I'm here. I'll be right there!" Alex turned back to Amanda, giving her a rather sad and depressed look before she just shook her head and walked away from her, making her way to Donatello.

Don smiled a bit, unaware of what just went down, after all from his distance it looked like she was talking with a friend. He gave her a side hug. "Hey! How was life on the other side?" he asked, talking about public school.

Alex shrugged, glancing back as the walked down the street. Amanda was leaning against the fence, smirking at the girl in triumph. She shook her head, turning back to look in front of her, realizing that she hadn't actually answered Don's question. "Uh, the usual, I guess," she stated.

"You guess?" Don asked, noting something was wrong but decided to go for the 'cheer her up' choice. "Come on! I need more information. I've decided to research the life of a normal high school student and you're my subject!" He said jokingly.

Alex smiled a little. _Leave it to Don to come up with that kind of study_ , she thought. "If there was anything interesting," she started to say, "I'd tell you."

"I thought high school was boring, so wouldn't it make sense that the info you give me is boring?" he teased as they walked.

"That makes sense," she said, nodding her head. "Well, then, if you must know, I spend most of the day just taking notes. I skipped lunch to work on a history project in the library. That's basically it for during the day."

 _And then there was what happened five minutes ago,_ Alex thought. A small sigh escaped her lips as she kept walking, getting closer to his house with each step. A _manda's a jerk, but she's not dumb_ , she continued. _She wouldn't get away with all of the things she does if she was stupid. And she_ does _get a lot of attention from both boys and girls_.

Alex glanced down at her phone, seeing the dark reflection of herself in the screen. She bit her natural colored lip. Was she really that bad? She never wore makeup, and her lips were slightly chapped from how often she bit them, but that didn't make her unattractive, right? She was just natural.

Or plain. And plain was boring, right? Maybe she _was_ too boring for people to notice or to take an interest in.

"Hey," Don said taking her hand in a brotherly way, tugging at it. "Are you okay Alex?"

Alex glanced up and as she looked into his warm brown eyes, almost spilled every detail of what happened to her that afternoon, but then stopped. Donatello may have been one of the more plain looking Hamato children, but Don was still extremely attractive. He was tall, he had darker features, fitting the description of tall, dark, and handsome. His warm eyes made anybody that looked into them want to smile and be friendly with him. He had a natural sweetness about him; as if he never had a bad thought about anyone. His dark hair was messy sure, but it was an attractive messy whether it was in his short ponytail or loose around his head(which was rarely). Kerry never admitted it out loud, but Alex knew the older girl wanted to run her hands through it.

Alex mustered up the most believable smile she could and nodded. "Yeah, everything's okay," she told him.

"You sure? You dazed out there," Don said then blushed. "And just now you kinda just..stared at me really oddly."

"You're adorable, you know that?" Alex told him, trying to change the subject. If she didn't feel good about herself, maybe she could give Donatello a little bit of confidence. Just because she wasn't appealing didn't mean Don had to go around thinking that he wasn't.

"W-w-what?!" Don asked his face going almost as red as his brother's hair. "A-Alex where did that come from?!" he said running a nervous hand through his hair.

The girl shrugged, some of her red hair falling off of her shoulder in the action. "Nowhere, really," she muttered. "I just wanted you to know that."

"Well, it was weird," he murmured a bit, his shyness getting the best of him. He looked at her before running a hand through the strand of her hair that fell. "B-But...your really pretty too," he murmured. "I mean, guys would really fall for a girl like you. I-I mean not that I-! I mean not that I wouldn't- I-I mean I like-... _Nevermind_!"

The girl snorted. _I can't even compliment a friend on their appearance and make them feel good?_ Alex asked herself. _And he only complimented me back because he felt obligated to because of what I said._ A sigh escaped her throat again. _Maybe I really am that undateable._

"Come on, Mikey is waiting for you," Don said with a groan at his embarrassment call his mouth.

"Right," Alex said, still lost in thought. She shook her head, trying to focus. She had a job to do and she planned on doing it. She owed it to Mikey. " _Right_. Time to work."


	8. Run

Chapter 8

Run

"Mr. Scoutan's a dick," Alex blurted out on her run with Kerry that afternoon.

The two girls were running through central park that Thursday afternoon, before either of them had to go to work. Kerry had gone home with Alex after school and the two girl's changed into their running clothes. Alex was in a deep green sports bra and a pair of black spandex shorts that showed off quite a bit of her legs. Her red hair was pulled back out of her face, keeping her cooler.

"What did he do this time?" Kerry asked as she took one earphone out of her ear.

"He assigned an eight page packet on organic reactions due Monday," Alex complained. "The _dick_ ," she muttered. "On top of that, we have a test on Monday."

"Okay, now I'm _really_ glad I wasn't here for his class." the girl said.

"He's such a, a, a _dick_!" Alex went on, unable to come up with another name for him.

"Heard you the first time, hon." Kerry laughed as she pulled out ahead. "But if you keep talking, I'll lap ya!"

"Oh, no you won't!" Alex yelled, quickly pushing harder to catch up.

Kerry laughed as she turned fully around and burst off into a sprint. Alex rolled her eyes and ran off after her. It was always the same with Kerry and Alex when they went off on their runs. It would always turn into Alex chasing after Kerry for some reason or another. Alex was more of a distance runner, while Kerry liked to sprint.

Kerry soon slowed down into a jog, breathless from her fast burst of speed and laughing too much, causing her to end in a coughing fit. Alex collapsed onto the grass next to where Kerry was bent over, gasping for air.

Kerry plopped down next to her on her stomach, catching her breath as she tried to chuckle. "I was... the last on ...my feet. Woot," she gasped at her.

"Shut….Up…Fruit...Cake" Alex said between breaths.

"Shut..your ...face...dorkfish" Kerry panted back. "I am...boss."

"Hey, look what I found!" a familiar playful voice yelled.

Alex's head turned, too tired to lift it up off the ground to see Mikey and his brothers jogging over to where Alex and Kerry were resting on the grass.

All four of the teenage boys were wearing basketball shorts, but that was about it. Their top halves were all bare, showing off their muscular chests and abs to the world. Alex had to look away from running her eyes over their abs, especially Raph's since his was one of the most defined.

"Shit shit shit! I look like...well..shit." Kerry groaned fist hitting the ground in embarrassment.

"At least...you...can breathe…" Alex gasped out, still unable to catch her breath.

Kerry groaned wanting to disappear before-

"Kerry, Alex!" Mikey cheered as he jogged over to them.

Alex raised her hand before it fell limply to the ground. "Hey," she gasped. She turned her head in Kerry's direction and scowled tiredly. "I...hate...you."

"How is this my fault?" Kerry groaned.

"I...distance," she said. "You...sprint….far too much…. _Ow, cramp_!"

"Are you okay?" Leo asked, kneeling down next to Alex.

"She can't handle my awesome!" Kerry said sitting up far too fast and getting a head rush, falling back into Mikey's arms.

"Fruitcake," Alex muttered at her best friend.

"Dorkfish." Kerry shot back subconsciously.

"You guys sure you're best friends?" Raph scoffed as he sat down on the grass as Donatello came around to check on the girls.

"Most definetly," Alex said without gasping. "Why? Don't all best friends do this?" she asked.

"We are each other's best friends so you can understand how that can be kind of a warp sense," Don murmured as he sat her up gently.

"Wouldn't that make Raph and Leo best friends," Mikey thought. "If all best friends were like you two?"

"No!" both Leo and Raph yelled.

Kerry gave a laugh. "They're frienemies." she corrected as Don moved on to her, causing her to blush as he took her arms and sat her up correctly. She peeked at him before looking down to the ground.

"You okay?" Don asked the black haired girl.

"U-Uh yeah," Kerry said forcing herself not to revert to her accept or her 'southern-isms.'

 _Of course she's fine,_ Alex thought with a smirk. _Don's got her._ She looked away and to the three other brothers. "How are you guys?" she asked.

"Great, now that I see my girls again." Mikey said wiggling his eyebrows.

"Ignore him." Raph grunted, shoving his brother by his face.

"We're fine, Alex," Leo said rolling his eyes. "Yourself?"

"Eh," she said. "Could be better. Could be worse. It's just one of those days."

"What do you mean?" Don asked. "What's wrong?"

Alex sighed. _I couldn't just keep my fat mouth shut, could I?_ "It's just my chemistry teacher," she told them, hoping it'd be enough to get them to back off.

"He's being a dick, to quote Alex," Kerry said finally better. "He's overloading her."

"Uh, he's such a _dick_!" Alex growled again, angry all over again. "He's prejudice against redheads. I swear that's the only reason he's doing this. Because of my hair!"

"U-Uh, you're hair?" Don asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes," Alex said with a firm nod. "My hair. He hates redheads!"

"How could he hate you?" Mikey asked. "You're great!"

"Suck up," Raph muttered.

Alex ignored him. "Aw, thank you, Mikey," she said.

"There's some stupid rumor about a woman with red hair leaving him or something." Kerry shrugged. "So now he hates all redheads."

"The _dick_!" Alex muttered again.

"Sounds like it to me," Raph agreed with her for once.

"You're just saying that because you're a redhead," Mikey said.

"Am not," Raph protested.

"It's true," Leo pointed out.

" _Dick_ ," Alex muttered.

"Is she going to keep saying that?" Don asked Kerry.

"Yeah, she isn't a champion swearer like I am. No swearing creativity." Kerry smirked at him.

"Fuck you, bitch," Alex shot at her.

"Lick my clit," Kerry said on instinct. She really was a pro.

Alex laughed at the reactions the guys gave. Raph and Leo's head shot in Kerry's direction, while Don's mouth fell open to the ground. Mikey just cracked up.

"Sorry, Fruitcake," Alex said. "I don't swing that way."

"I can make anyone swing in anyway which direction I please." Kerry shrugged.

"No, you can't," Alex protested.

"Oh, come on. You know you-"

"Please," Don said covering her mouth. "Can we stop it? Please." He groaned a bit, face bright red. It didn't help she was dressed in tight workout pants and sports bras.

"You guys are far too squirrely," Alex said. "You need to get out more."

"I quite enjoy this actually," Mikey chuckled. "She's right, she is creative."

"Another way is to take any swear word or body part and put it with a kitchen utensil." Kerry shrugged. "Nipple Juicer." She said as an example.

"Oh boy," Alex groaned, laying back on the grass. "Here we go."

"Dickpan." Mikey murmured.

"Mikey!" Leo scolded.

"Scrotum whisk." Raphael joined in.

"Ass-" Kerry started.

"Enough!" Leo ordered.

"Yeah, that escalated quickly," Alex laughed, sitting back up, using her arms to support herself from behind.

"It could have gone worse, but I didn't want to scare off my new friends." Kerry chuckled a bit with a smile, as she laid down on her stomach. Alex's hand went to the girl's hair, on instinct. She always fiddled with people's hair when they did something like that. Kerry smiled at the action with a chuckle.

"Hey, we've managed to stand the Butch this long," Raph said, nodding his head to the female redhead.

 _And there's the insult,_ Alex thought, rolling her eyes and looking away. _I'm the Butch. I'm always the Butch. Amanda's right. I'm nothing more than the Butch. Smart guys like Don don't go for people like me. Neither do funny guys like Mikey, confident guys like Leo or the bad boy hotties like Raph. I'm just the Butch. The best friend. That girl that's always just around to have a good time with._

"Ralphie," she shot back at him, her voice rather low.

"Butch-" Raph started to say but was suddenly tackled to the ground by a dark haired blur. "Fuck!"

"Kerry?" Alex asked, turning her head at the girl.

"What just happened?" Mikey asked.

Kerry and Raph were rolling around on the group, taking swiped at each other and swearing up a storm. Fists flew and kicks were thrown.

Realizing what was going on, Alex quickly got up off the ground and rushed over to pull Kerry away from Raph. "Kerry, calm down!" Alex tried. " _Breathe_!"

"Fucking bitch," Raph spat at her as Leo pulled him back. "What the hell?"

"You don't get to talk to her that way!" Kerry hissed and lunged at him again, Don stepping in to help Alex hold her back.

"Kerry, relax," Alex pressed. She felt horrible this was all because of her. "It's not a big deal." Though she really _didn't_ like it when he called her that. She just didn't want them to fight because of her. She didn't think she was worth it. "It's not worth it!"

"It's a joke!" Raph insisted. "And see, she says so."

Kerry narrowed her eyes at him. "You still shouldn't call her that, you ass!" Kerry said but stopped trying to hit him. Don sighed and lightly patted her head, muttering something about them being too much alike.

" _Whatever_ ," Raph muttered.

"No, she's right," Leo said. "You shouldn't call her that."

"Come on," she sighed. "It's not big deal, guys. Can we just drop it?" she begged.

"I'm cool with that." Kerry sighed as she went to sit back down, rubbing her cheek a bit where Raph got a good hit in.

"Well, we had Raph and Kerry fight," Mikey said, "now all we need is for Alex and Kerry to fight. I'd need popcorn for that one."

"Mikey!" Leo scolded.

"What? It's one of my fantasies!" he said. "And they'd be fighting over me!"

"You and pretty much every guy ever," Raph chuckled. "Girls fight? It's hot."

"Raph, not helping," Leo said.

"Oh, come on, Leo," Raph said. "You can't honestly say you haven't had that fantasy?"

"Uh, well," Leo muttered.

"What about you, Don?" Alex asked, chuckle in her voice.

"Like the thought of two girls fighting over you?" Kerry teased him.

"Is there a right answer to that?" Don asked, face red. He rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"Sorry cutie pie, but no, no there is not." Kerry chuckled not catching what she called him.

"Hey, a fantasy's a fantasy," Alex said. "Everybody has them. You can dream about whatever the hell you guys want."

"What's yours then Alex?" Kerry snickered.

"I'll tell if you tell," Alex laughed, not believing that Kerry would tell.

"Hmm deal," Kerry said nodding slowly. "It's only fair since we heard the guys. Oh! But they have to say another fantasy individually!" She said pointing to the guys with a grin.

 _Oh shit_ , Alex thought. _I don't actually want to tell them!_

"Okay," Mikey said, plopping down on the grass, legs crossed. "Well, another one would have to be taking a figure drawing class with a smokin' girl."

"You mean," Alex said, "like those naked drawing classes?"

"I took one of those." Kerry said nonchalantly.

"You did?" Alex asked.

"Oh, don't tell me that!" Mikey groaned, tipping backwards from being flustered.

"Why not?" Kerry chuckled.

"Now you're in there with the hot girl!" he told her.

Kerry blushed. "And what is wrong with me?!" Kerry said crossing her arms.

"Nothing, that's the point," Alex told her, swatting her arm. "Think about it, Fruitcake. Even _I_ got that."

"O-Oh," Kerry murmured blushing causing Don to scowl a bit and kick his brother slightly.

"Okay, Leo?" Mikey asked.

"Oh, uh, training session turned steamy," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "I mean, training is already physical and stuff so it's not a stretch."

"Yeah, not training with you anymore, man," Raph muttered.

"Dude gross!" Leo said hitting him.

"Or, it kind of is a stretch," Alex said. " _If you know what I mean._ "

Kerry started laughing. "I don't know, I'd be _flexible_ to the idea."

"We _are_ quite the acrobats," Alex chuckled. The two girls were having far too much fun teasing the boys.

"Stop giving me ideas!" Mikey groaned.

"What? Not enjoying the imagery, Mikey?" Alex teased. Kerry smirked and gave a wink to Alex as she stood up. She walked a little ways away before she did a complete backbend. "Show off," Alex muttered.

"You can do it too," Kerry pointed out as she slowly did a handstand and came back down into splits, causing the guys to blush.

"Yeah, but I'm too tired to get up," Alex said.

"Just thought I'd give the guys an example." Kerry smiled a bit.

"You _temptresses_!" Mikey cried.

"Okay, Don?" Alex asked. "What's your's?"

"Huh?" he grumbled, not paying attention as he stared at Kerry's chest. "W-Well, a beautiful lab assistant," he muttered, not willing to go on, but it was implied. Kerry felt heat rush up to her cheeks thinking about all the possibilities. Oh god she just might get a nosebleed!

Alex glanced up at the other redhead of the group. "Raph?" she asked.

"Uh," Raph murmured in thought. "I've always liked hair pulling, in my opinion." He smirked.

Alex bit her lip. She had always enjoyed it a little too much when people played or styled her hair. It was far too relaxing and enjoyable to her. She could never resist or turn down someone when they offered to brush her hair, or to braid it. There was just something about it that made Alex's stomach go wild.

"Your's or her's?" Kerry asked.

"Both."

"Didn't expect that," Alex stated, cheeks slightly red, seeing as one of her pleasures was one of his.

"Hm? He seems to be the type though." Kerry shrugged, not getting that she also had a fantasy about it.

"And what would a girl with that fantasy look like?" Mikey asked. "I mean, if _he_ looks like it, what would she?"

 _Oh, mikey! Don't ask that!_ Alex thought, wanting to crawl under a rock.

"Uh, I guess," Kerry murmured thoughtfully. "It'd be unexpected for the girl, she'd be sweet and stuff but kind have a dark underbelly," Kerry joked. "Sorry, not into the forceful stuff, Mikester."

"You just described Alex," Mikey pointed out. "Right? Come on, tell us you have a dark underbelly, Alex!"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Alex asked, trying to deny the fact that it was actually true.

"Ignore him, his brain isn't the one in charge of his mouth right now," Leo groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Is it ever?" Raph scoffed. "Alright girls, fess up. We shamed our selved for your entertainment, it's your turn now."

"Kerry?" Alex asked, making the black haired girl go first.

"Fine fine," Kerry sighed. "Shower sex," she said squeezing her eyes shut to avoid looking at their faces. "Hot shower sex, okay?"

The four boys stared at the girl. Throughout all of their confessions, none of them had even said the word sex. Kerry, on the other hand, went right out and blurted it as if it was as easy as saying 'the.'

" _Damn_ ," Mikey groaned.

Kerry groaned hiding her face in her hands. "Shhhhit. I didn't mean to say that much."

"Well, you did," Alex chuckled. "Now they're all imagining that!"

"Don?" Leo asked, seeing as Don was staring off across the street.

"What?" he jumped.

 _Aw,_ Alex thought. _He's having a fantasy! About Kerry, I bet! That's so cute and kind of weird since we all here out in public together..._

"You okay?" Leo asked. "You spaced."

"F-F-Fine," he stuttered, keeping his eyes to the ground. "Are we done talking about this yet?" he asked.

"No!" Kerry snapped. "I embarrassed myself so now it's Alex's turn!"

"Yeah, Alex," Mikey pressed. "What's your dark fantasy? I'm sure it's really good."

"I-I-I wouldn't say it's that dark," she murmured, pulling her legs up to her chest, which gave the guys a great view of her legs.

"Just tell us already!" Mike begged.

"W-Well," Alex said, " _Ivotsathingferhancuves._ "

"What?" Kerry asked furrowing her eyebrows.

"I've got a thing for handcuffs, okay?" she repeated louder.

"You're a badge bunny?" Raph asked with a smirk.

"Oh honey, I think every girl is deep down," Kerry murmured quietly.

"Do you have a thing for hair too?" Mikey asked. "Because that would go along with the whole dark thing."

Alex groaned, hiding her face in her hands. Her face had to be fifty shades of red for sure!

"Enough with the darkside, Mikster!" Kerry said hitting his arm. "Seriously, how did this conversation start again? Oh yeah, its Alex's fault."

"No, it's _Raph_!" Alex said. "He's the one that called me Butch."

"What does that have to do with this?!" Raph asked blinking at her.

"If you didn't call me Butch, you and Kerry wouldn't have started to fight. If you two didn't fight, Mikey wouldn't have said the whole thing about the two of us fighting," Alex explained.

"Yeah, so it's Raph's fault," Kerry said. "Everyone in agreement say 'aye'."

"Aye!"

"I hate people," Raph muttered.

"Oh crap!" Alex muttered, seeing the it me on her ipod. "I have to go home. I've gotta work in half an hour!" Alex stood up, giving the guys a great view of her legs again and dusted herself off. "It was, uh, nice chatting?"

"You have to go?" Mikey pouted.

"Duty calls," Alex said.

"Hehe, you said duty," he laughed. " _Ow_ , Dude!" he groaned when Raph hit him over the back of the head.

"You leaving me along with these fiends?!" Kerry play gasped. " _Again_?"

"I never said you had to stay," Alex told her. "But I have to go. I'll see you tomorrow, everybody." She waved over her shoulder, running off to head to work.


	9. Return of the Bully

Chapter 9

Return of the Bully

"Is everybody still going out to Franco's tonight?" Alex asked, walking with Kerry to their lockers to dump of everything they didn't need for the weekend. She dropped off more than half of the content of her bag into the locker, not needing any of it.

"As far as I know," Kerry said as she put her government book into her backpack to study. "I'm on call at the cafe and Taylor has been skipping lately so I might get called in though," she said. "So I might not be going."

"I think I'm going to skip tonight," Alex stated, zipping up her backpack before swinging it over her shoulder. She closed her locker and turned to the older girl. "I'm not really in the mood."

She hadn't really been in the mood to do much of anything with anybody lately. Every time she looked at her friends she'd see how pretty or handsome they were, and it would remind her of what Amanda had said to her about the way the redhead looked. Plus, seeing how cozy Phoebe and Rudy, and Kiley and Erik were, it just reminded her of how alone she was in the whole dating department.

"Are you okay?" Kerry asked softly. "I mean, you haven't seemed like yourself lately."

Alex shrugged, putting the other strap of her backpack on as they two girls headed down the hallway. "I'm tired," she stated, which was actually the truth, just not the whole story.

"Well," Kerry said slowly. "You are scheduled to peak capacity."

"Yeah, so I might just rest tonight after tutoring," she said with an absent minded nod.

"Sure, do what you have too," she said nodding. "Come on by the cafe if you want, around 8 is when we slow down," she said and bumped shoulders with her. "I can wait on you hand and foot," she joked.

Alex rolled her eyes with a small smirk playing on her lips. "Yeah, that doesn't make me feel any better," she stated. Once outside, Alex stopped at the gate, having to wait for one of the guys to come and get her. Kerry hung back a moment.

"Hey," Kerry said, sounding a bit shy suddenly. "I'm here, if you want to talk," she said slowly.

"I know," Alex said. "Thanks, but I'm okay." Alex's stomach dropped, causing her to glance away from Kerry and to the school, seeing Amanda walking out. She gulped slightly and turned back to Kerry, a smile on her lips. "You get going. I've just to wait for one of the guys."

"U-uh right," she said clearing her throat. "Right, nothing to talk about," she said rubbing her arms a bit. "See ya tomorrow at the dojo," she said and headed off quickly.

Alex sighed, leaning back against the gate a little more, happy that just in case Amanda came back over to her like she had done the day before when Alex was finishing up her project in the library for lunch to continue degrading her, that her best friend wouldn't see. She didn't want to get Kerry all worked up about the whole thing. And if Kerry did happen to find out, Alex feared she'd get expelled for fighting.

"Hey!" Amanda said as if she was happy to see a friend. "It's my favorite transvestite!"

Alex sighted, a pained expression dancing across her face as she bit her lip. She knew it was coming. Why did it still feel like such a blow to the chest though? The girl opened her green eyes, focusing on the brown eyes of the blonde girl. "Amanda," Alex greeted.

"How's it going? Take of the beauty tips I gave you?" Amanda asked. She had been referring to the comment she had made at the library about stuffing her locker with dog grooming gear.

 _Does it look like I've changed anything to you?_ she thought, but didn't dare say. Saying it would have just made things worse for her.

"Oh, come on, it was just in good fun," Amanda pouted at the lack of a response. "Though I heard that guys like a bitch with a shiny coat."

Alex looked at the blonde. She did have rather pretty hair, even if it had been dyed blonde far to many times to be considered healthy and alive. But she always wore it in different ways and she was rather good at it. Alex only ever wore her hair down or up in a messy ponytail whenever it was bothering her. She never put any thought into it.

"What's wrong? Cat got your tongue, Bitch?" Amanda said, words getting more violent as she got no response. "I think we need to change that," she growled grabbing Alex's arm tightly in her orange painted hand. " I know boyfriends want their girlfriends to be submissive, but they _do_ expect some response when talking to you."

Alex bit her lip and pulled her arm out of Amanda's grasp, causing the blonde's manicured nails to scratch into her skin, leaving thin red streaks. She ignored the slight burning sensation, having been through much worse, even two weeks ago. A scratch was nothing, but her actions weren't nothing to Amanda.

"Hey!" A voice called out and Amanda's grip disappeared. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Raph snapped as he marched over, fists clenched.

" _Raph_?" Alex asked, turning to look at the male redhead. She was beyond shocked to see him there. Not once had he ever gone on pick-up duty. She thought he didn't think it was worth his time, seeing as his brothers were normally so eager to go see their first female friend. "What are you doing here?"

"Picking you up," he said as if it were the most obvious thing. "Duh, you idiot. Now who's the dumb bimbo?" he asked stepping between her and Amanda, as if shielding her.

"Raph?" Alex asked, questioning his action.

"Mmm, and who are you?" Amanda asked, looking Raphael up and down. "I'm surprised someone as hot as you would be hanging around a girl like Lex."

Alex shrunk back, practically hiding herself behind Raph's strong frame. She avoided looking at the taller redhead, feeling his eyes on her when she moved behind him. She didn't want to tell him. She didn't want to tell anybody. She just wanted it all to go away! She didn't want to deal with any of that!

"Tch," Raph scoffed. "Why would I tell you who I am? God, makes me sick even thinkin' you might know me," he said and Amanda's face fell. "And so what if I'm with her? She's better company than you, that's for sure."

"Oh, honey, you don't know what kind of company I can offer," Amanda said, running one of her hands up Raph's strong arms, feeling him up just as much as she was trying to seduce him. "Far better company than the transvestite, that's for sure!"

"Leave him alone, Amanda," Alex pleaded, peaking out from behind Raph. "He's got nothing to do with this."

"Right, nothing to do with this. He can't be your boyfriend," Amanda said, finding that thought rather humorous. "Remember, we've had this discussion. To have nothing to offer a boy, let alone a man like him," she said, nudging her head in Raph's direction.

Alex crossed her arms and shrank again.

"What if I was her boyfriend?" Raph asked eyes narrowing, to which both Amanda and Alex's heads snapped in his direction, eyes showing just how truly shocked they were at the insinuation. "That would mean you just insulted my girl. And I don't take to kindly to things like that," he said and got in amanda's face.

Amanda laughed. "You can't be serious, can you?"

"I'm very serious," he said and shoved her back. "And I like to think if you can talk trash, you can take the fight that comes with it," he hissed at her. "What's it going to be, Bitch?"

Amanda narrowed her eyes, but stepped back. She shook her head and said, "I'm not buying this. I'll see you on Monday, Lex." With that, the blonde turned away, leaving the two redheads alone.

Raph watched Amanda go, making sure she was out of earshot for when he turned to Alex and asked, "What the hell was that about?"

"Nothing," she said, shaking her head. "Don't worry about it."

"Nothing? That's what you call nothing?" Raph asked, grabbing her arm, below where she had been scratch. He moved her arm so that it was in her line of sight. "This is nothing?"

"Compared to what Hun did? Yes," she said, narrowing her eyes before shifting them away.

"How could you just stand there and listen to what she was saying? You didn't do anything to defend yourself!" he continued, his voice getting louder as the level of his anger increase.

"Because talking only makes it worse!" Alex stated, her voice getting louder as well.

"That's when you get help!" Raph said as he looked over her scratch with an odd gentleness.

"Help? Help from who?" Alex asked. "You don't know anything about any of this, Raphael! I've tried to stand up to her before. That _never_ got me anywhere!"

"Well, you can't possibly believe any of that crap she was saying, can you?" Raph said. "She's just saying it get get you to react! That's what bullies do!"

"Oh, I can't?" Alex huffed. She turned away from him, running a hand through her long red hair before turning back to Raph, her face as read as either of their hair, hot tears welling up in her eyes from embarrassment and anger. "And why's that, huh? From where I'm standing, everything she says is true! She's not the first person to tell me any of that. So what else am I supposed to believe?"

"Who the hell would tell you something like that?" Ralph asked.

" _You_!" Alex screamed. "You say things like that to me _all_ the time. Why wouldn't it be true?" She turned away, trying to walk away from him, but he followed right behind. "What can I say? I don't get attention from guys. I don't get dates. I've never even had a boyfriend." She quickly turned to Raph and said, "It's the truth. you're both just saying what right in front of me! You're just stating the facts."

"You always fought back against me!" Raph growled. "I thought you could take shit more than that. Your tough, probably the toughest girl I've ever met. If it bugged you so much you could have asked me to stop, honestly," he growled.

"Just ask you to stop? Just like that?" Alex huffed. "Yeah, and you didn't get that I didn't like it in the first place? I highly doubt you would have just stopped."

"I would've," he told her. "I was joking around. I didn't mean any of it!"

Alex backed down a little. "You didn't mean it?"

"No!" he yelled, sitting worked up about the whole situation. "And maybe guys don't ask you out because they don't know how to approach you, huh? That Fred guy-

"Whoa! What does Freddy have anything to do with this?" she demanded.

"You really don't know?" Raph said looking at her bewildered before shaking his head and continuing walking. "God, you're dense."

"What the hell are you talking about?" she pressed, moving in front of him.

"Listen if he can't man up and say anything that's his problem," Raph scoffed. "I'm not going to do it for him."

"Raphael!" Alex yelled, grabbing his arm, forcing him to face her. "Don't you dare leave me hanging like this! What the hell are you talking about?"

"Not my shit to tell," he hissed and pulled his arm away before pushing her forward to walk. "Get moving, Mikey is waiting for you."

Alex was angry, but primarily because he let her hanging about Fred. What was he talking about? Fred had nothing to do with the subject. Why bring him up? And why was Raph calling her dense? What wasn't she seeing? And why would Fred need to man up? Fred was strong. Why would he need to be stronger?

"Hurry up. It's bad enough I had to come get you, don't waste my time too!"

"If I'm such a waste of time, why did you even come get me?" Alex asked, staring down at the ground as they walked. "Why stick up for me? If you don't like me that much, why bother with _any_ of it?"

"You might waste my time, but that doesn't mean I-" Raph grumbled and kicked at the ground. "That doesn't mean-I...You're okay! Alright? An-and my bros would be really ticked if I let that happen to you. Now shut up and stop saying stupid things about yourself, it's annoying"

Alex glanced up at the boy, his cheeks as red as his hair. _He said I'm okay,_ Alex thought, a smirk playing on her lips, her stomach flipping. _Okay, so I guess he doesn't hate me. And he's not all bad if he stuck up for me._

"Raph?" Alex asked softly.

"Didn't I just say to st-"

He shut up when Alex leaned in and kissed his soft cheek. She backed away, both of their faces as red as their hair. "Thanks," she told him.

He blinked, touching his cheek a bit, as if nobody had ever done that before. He looked away, completely embarrassed. "Y-Yeah, just back off, okay? I don't need your germs, Butch!"

Alex sighed. "So we're back to Butch?" She pushed past Raph, making her way up the front steps of their home. _So, he was lying? I'm still just the Butch? He just stuck up for me because he knew his brothers would be angry if they found out he didn't?_

"Depends, am I Ralph?" he scoffed.

"I only called you that because you called me Butch," Alex stated.

"Then maybe I can compromise and call you something else...Firecracker," he scoffed,

Green eyes rolled. "Well, I guess that's better than _Butch_ , but you know, you could just call me by my name," Alex suggested. "It's easy. Alex. Come on, say it. AAAAleeeex."

"Do I look like I care enough to try?" Raph grumbled as they made it in front of his house. "Come on, Don is grounded and Leo is out for a ru-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Alex said, holding him up. "Donatello? Donny? He got grounded?"

"He's not completely innocent, you know," Raph laughed a bit as he opened the door for her as if out of habit.

"Thank you," Alex said politely, going in ahead of him. She turned to him as she took her shoes off, still into the conversation. "Obviously, he's got a thing for Kerry."

"Don't bring the hick into this," Raph rolled his eyes. "No, Don has always had an adventurous side. He sometimes forgets the big picture when he's hyperfocused, with that mind of his, he sometimes doesn't think of repercussions," he grumbled eyes narrowing.

"What did he do?" Alex asked.

"Drove a motorcycle without a license," he answered.

Alex laughed, shaking her head. She couldn't believe it! _Oh, wait until I tell Kerry!_ "He's not the only one," Alex said. "I mean, you did the same thing today for me. There are going to be repercussions."

"What are you talking about? What repercussions?" Raph asked, walking with her down the hallway.

"You basically told Amanda that we were together," she informed him, face red as she opened the door to the common room.

"No, I didn't," Raph smirked. "I ain't stupid, I asked so what if we were and if she takes it that way that's her problem. If she give you shit just call her out on it."

 _Which would mean me saying that I don't have a boyfriend, which she'll take and continue to use against me,_ Alex thought. _But I guess he's right. He didn't actually say we were going out, so I can't use that to get her to leave me alone. No matter how much I want to. She'd never live that down._

"Wow, you guys didn't kill each other," Don muttered a bit, looking bored out of his mind as a book sat in his lap. Mikey was over at the couch, TV on. He turned it off when he heard the two enter and turned them.

"Nope," Alex said. "And guess what? Raph said I'm better company!" She was just joking, lightening the mooded. She smirked over at Raph, giving him a small wink to try and keep him quiet about what happened that afternoon. Raph smirked and nodded at his brother.

"Yep."

"What?" Donatello asked blinking. "What do you mean?"

"He said I'm better company," Alex said. "Which means I'm officially accepted into the family!"

"No it doesn't!" Raph grumbled, smirk on his face.

"Sure it does," Alex said. "If Raph says I'm good for you guys to be around, then it must be so, right? Not many people get his approval."

"Yes!" Mikey laughed with a grin as he hopped over the couch and hugged her. "Best sister ever!"

"Ready to do homework?" she asked him.

"Worst sister ever!"

"You got to do it Mike," Don said as he went back to reading with a sigh.

"Noooooooo," Mikey grumbled.

"Okay, come on. Let's get to work," Alex said, a smile on her lips and laugh in her voice.

Raph glanced over at her from his punching bag, a small smile on his face as he thought, _At least she's happier again._


	10. Moanful Meat

Chapter 10

Moanful Meat

"I get why the weapons have to be wood, but that doesn't mean I have to like it," Alex grumbled uncharacteristically. She grabbed her drink off of the table, taking a long sip of her Pepsi.

Kerry and Alex were out having dinner on Sunday. Neither of them had to work, and had spent the day hanging out, doing homework and watching movies. They escaped the house to get away from Marcus, who kept making comments about Kerry. Kerry didn't really care, but Alex sure as hell did!

"I know, it sets the balance off!" Kerry said equally displeased. "Even something as simple as a tanto feels really off in my hands when it's competition regulated."

The two girls were talking about their ninjutsu competition weapons. During competitions, they were put against another opponent with a wooden weapon of their choosing. They fought and whoever won the bout, getting the most points, would move on to the next fight, and so on and so forth.

"It's disgusting," Alex stated. "My black katon katana is my specialty. Not that I can't use anything else, it's just, _you know_. It's my weapon!"

"Do you know how awkward my claws are?" Kerry scoffed. "That's way worse than your sword. I mean, I look so stupid!" she grumbled. "But like you said, it's my weapon. It's like, like my _thing_!"

"Anything wooden, besides a staff, isn't as powerful as what it's supposed to be!" Alex said.

"I know, you remember last time. I tried to take down that guy from Foot," Kerry said. "And he just laughed me off when my claws hit him! I didn't even leave a bruise on the guy."

"I guess that's kind of the point, though," Alex said.

"Uh, yeah but not when the guy is like twice your size," Kerry grumbled a bit. She had almost been seriously hurt in that fight if she didn't pull a win by using her shortness to her advantage.

"Yeah, but it's the Foot Institute," Alex said. "They never fight fair. It just goes to show how much better we are than them when we come out on top."

"Tell that to my concussion," she groaned a bit as she took a drink. "Bashed me good. And the guy you went up against was trying to break your leg most of the time!"

Alex nodded her head, remembering the moment. "The ass," she stated simply. "Oh, yeah. Speaking of an ass, I forgot to tell you that Raph's not so bad."

"Told you!" Kerry scoffed. "But how did you know? You seemed dead set on him being the bad guy earlier."

"He picked me up on Friday and we talked," Alex said. "By the way, did you know Don knows how to ride a motorcycle? He got grounded for driving it without a license."

Kerry choked a bit on her drink, eyes going wide and cheeks going wide. "H-He did what?" She asked in shock.

"He got grounded for driving without a license," Alex repeated with a laugh. "I know! I couldn't believe it when Raph told me!"

"B-But he's...so..so _good_!" Kerry said unable to think of anything else. "I could never imagine him doing something so, so bad," she said.

Alex laughed. "Raph said he can get a little carried away sometimes." She then cracked up. "Get it. Carried away. _Kerry_. Kerried away!"

Kerry looked at her before slowly bringing her hand up to her face in a face palm. "Why am I friends with you?"

"Hey!" Alex whined.

"I ask my brothers that all the time," a familiar voice said from behind Alex.

The two girl's looked to see Raph, Mikey, Don and Leo walk in. Raph has been the one to make the comment to catch their attention.

"Oh!" Kerry said standing. "Hey boys!" she said and Mikey skipped over to give her a hug, to which she returned with a laugh. Her cheeks were a bit red, scared they had heard what Alex had said about Don being, _Kerried_ away.

"Hey," Alex greeted. "What's up with you guys? We don't usually see you out and about."

"We're just eating," Leo scoffed good heartedly. "We don't stay home _all_ the time. We normally go out to eat on Sundays."

"Cool," Alex said. "Do you guys want to join us? We haven't ordered our food yet and the booth's big enough."

"Yes! I need time with my girls!" Mikey grinned a bit at them.

"You're girls?" Alex asked, scooting over into the middle of the booth, Kerry doing the same.

"Yeah!" Mikey grinned and tossed his arms over their shoulders as they got out of the booth. "You're my best girls!"

"They're your only girls, Chucklehead," Raph scoffed a bit. Everyone scuffled around a bit, displacing Mikey from his spot between his girls. Leo and Raph sat at the ends of the rounded booth table. Next to Leo, Mikey sat with Kerry on his other side. Alex had been able to maneuver around so Don ended up next to the older girl, much to her joy. She would get them together even if it killed her, on the slight downside that left her next to Raph.

"H-Hi, Kerry," Don greeted. "H-How are you?"

"I'm good," Kerry said, peeking at him from the corner of her eyes. "I'm fine! I'm just right as rain I am!" Kerry said then realized her hick was showing again and wanted to face desk. She hid her head in her menu and Alex was just able to make out her mouthing, "God, this is embarrassing."

 _Oh, she's going to get me for this, all right,_ Alex thought, smirk in place as she looked at the two. _It's so worth it!_ She shifted her gaze to the menu in her hand.

"Nice, Hick," Raph chuckled a bit as he heard her grumble under her breath.

Alex elbowed the redhead in the ribs, making him grunt. She leaned over and whispered. "Shut up and leave them alone. Can't you see they're happy? You want Donatello to be happy, right?"

"But she's a hick! Is that a lie? No!" He muttered back.

"She's not a hick, you dick," Alex shot at him.

"She's from the south. So she's a hick. It's a common term," Raph rolled his eyes a bit as he looked over the menu. Kerry was just about dying of embarrassment behind her menu.

She knew he didn't mean anything by it, But Alex knew how much Kerry hated being called that. "She doesn't like it when people call her that, Raph," she told him,not looking away from her menu. "Kind of like me with Butch. So, please?"

"Fine fine, but I want to hear it from her too," Raph said. "That h-...girl needs to say when she doesn't like somethin'. Like you."

Alex bumped him lightly with her shoulder, getting him to glance up. She looked at him from the corner of her eyes with a small smile on her face. "Thanks," she whispered.

"How is rain right?" Mikey asked suddenly a confused look on his face before anyone could stop him he poked Kerry, wanting an answer from the horses mouth.

"U-Uh, I actually don't know. It's just a saying," Kerry said lowering her menu. "I've heard it all my life."

"Right as rain is a common saying," Don jumped in quickly. "A lot of people use it across the US," he said shooting his hotheaded brother a glance. "It's like that because rain is natural and there's nothing more 'right' than natural. So she's saying she's alright," Don said. Was this his weird way of defending Kerry?

"See, and brainiac told me he thinks her accent is cute," Raph murmured to Alex with a slight smirk.

"They're cute together," Alex said. "They deserve to find people the make them happy."

"Hey, don't get all chick-flick on me, Firecracker," he said, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, come on," Alex said, nudging him again. " _You_ want Don to be happy. _I_ want Don _and_ Kerry to be happy. They're happy _together_. It's simple math and logic."

"That's Don's territory, not mine," Raph said and bopped the top of her head gently with his menu.

"Hey," she said with a giggle, smacking him in the arm with her menu. Raph smirked and hit her back.

"Hey!" Kerry said and leaned across Don to hit Raph's hand, causing the brown haired boy to blush darkly from the close proximity.

"What was that for?" Raph asked, glaring at the black haired girl.

"No one hits my Lexi!" Kerry grumbled at him as a waitress came by and got the boys drink orders.

"What's everybody's getting?" Leo asked, still studying the menu.

"Bacon cheeseburger," Alex answered. "They have the best melt in your mouth burgers I've ever had!"

"You're a burger person?" Raph asked. "You look more like a salad girl from how small you are."

"We need protein!" Kerry scoffed. "I for one want cheese fries with ranch."

" _Ew_ , what?" Mikey asked. "That's nasty!"

"Is not! Fries and ranch are awesome. Way better than Ketchup," Kerry argued.

"Have to agree there, ketchup is nasty," Leo murmured.

"You guys are nasty!" Mikey said.

"I only like ketchup with some things," Alex said. "Like with french fries and chicken nuggets." She turned to Raph and said, "And I like salad ever once in a while, but I'm totally a burger person."

"Well, same here. I was planning on the bacon cheese burger myself." Raph nodded.

"Oh, you'll love it," Alex gushed. "Trust me. They put so much bacon on it that it's hard to eat it all inside the burger. It's _fantastic_."

"Thier avocado burger is also really great." Kerry suggested to the boys. "I actually work here part time during the week. It's one of our most popular items."

"Hm, I'll try it then." Don smiled a bit.

"Wow, you work here?" Mikey asked. "That's awesome!"

"I've never had avocado before," Alex thought out loud.

"It's good. I really like it myself," Leo said. "Though I'm looking at the grilled chicken sandwich."

"Dude, enough with the healthy stuff," Mikey grumbled. "I'm going with the Chipotle Burger."

"Mikey, that is really hot," Kerry said and Mikey smirked and slung an arm around her.

"I know, but contain your self in front of my bros," he joked.

"I meant the burger!"

Alex choked on her soda. Don gently patted her on the back to help. "Thanks," Alex said. It was then that the waitress came to get their food orders. When that was squared away, Kerry pinched Mikey's hand to get him to pull away.

"Hey, Don?" Alex asked.

"Yes, Alex?" Don answered.

"What's it like riding a motorcycle?" she asked, smirk firmly in place. "I've always wanted to ride on one."

Kerry was the one to start coughing this time, shooting her friend a look as she cheeks flushed dark red. If anyone rode with Don on his bike it'd be her. Don his self went red in the face, looking down as he bit his lip.

"I-I, ummm."

"You do too, right Kerry?" Alex asked, gently nudging her with her foot under the table.

"U-Uh, yeah. I love bikes." Kerry smiled though she kicked Alex back with her own steel toed boot back.

Alex lurched forward, groaned escaping her as she bent down and rubbed in her shin. "Fuck, Kerry! That hurt!"

"I don't know what your talkin' bout darlin,'" Kerry said turning on that overly sweet southern bell voice on. "I didn't do anythin'. And watch your language at the diner table. "

Alex glared, rubbing the large bump on her leg. "Fuckin' steel toed boots," she grumbled.

Raph laughed next to her. "Didn't know you had it in you, Firecracker! You swear like a sailor!"

"I do not," she protested.

"She's right, that's me." Kerry chuckled a bit, better now that she wasn't on the spot.

"I told you," Alex said.

"S-So," Kerry said. "You built the bike?" Kerry asked softly to Donatello.

"Uh, yeah," Don said. "I had to test drive it before I gave it to Raph. It's his bike."

"Why didn't he test drive it then?" Kerry laughed softly and Don smiled a bit.

"He didn't know about it at the time," Don said. "It's a birthday present that he found out about."

"Sorry about the surprise, Bro," Raph said. "But honestly it's the best thing ever man," he said the brightest smile the girls had ever seen on his face.

"When's your birthday?" Alex asked the boy next to her.

"We celebrate all of our birthdays on Halloween," Mikey told them. "We're all adopted and don't actually know when our birthdays are, so we just do it all at once. On the day Master Splinter took us in."

"That's so cool!" Alex exclaimed. "A Halloween birthday! That sounds like so much fun!"

"Happy early birthday, guys!" Kerry smiled brightly. "That is so cool!"

"When's your birthday, Kerry?" Don asked the girl next to him shyly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Oh, I still have a ways to go. I turn 18 in July." She smiled.

"You're seventeen?" Mikey asked. "Cool, an older woman!"

Kerry blushed. "Oh quiet!" she muttered a bit embarrassed. "You make me sound like a cougar!"

"You're more of a foxy momma," Alex teased, quickly taking her feet off the ground and away from Kerry. Kerry scowled and tossed her straw wrappers at her.

"I have to agree," Mikey laughed. "Give me your number and I'll save that as your contact," he play flirted a bit, wiggling his eyebrows. Don scowled a bit, he knew his brother didn't mean that, but it put him on edge a bit.

"I just realized none of us have each other's numbers," Alex said. "We should all exchange."

"Oh right!" Kerry said pulling out her phone, on instinct she gave it to Don first, to punch his number in.

One by one they all exchanged numbers, putting in various names for the contacts, pictures and funny ring tones for their tell when calling. Once that was done, the food came out. The door was handed over, and Alex was one of the first to dig in, extremely excited to have her favorite food to eat.

Alex took a slow bite, eyes closed. She put her hand over her mouth as she chewed and sat back, a pleasurable moan escaping the female redhead. She opened her eyes back up and put her hand back down when she was done chewing and had swallowed, noticing her friends all staring at her.

Don was next to her, frozen as he heard the noise come from her throat. Mikey was staring at her, mouth wide open as if he had no idea what just happened. Leo had a dark look in his eyes as he tried to focus on his food. Raphael was staring at the girl, mouth hanging open, burger in his hand, having just about to take a bite. His face was red, green eyes staring into green eyes as half of the bacon and cheese in his burger fell out and onto the plate.

Kerry broke the silence as she burst out into fits of laughter, unable to hold it in any longer.

"Son of a gun!" she cackled a bit, trying to breathe.

Alex's face darkened in embarrassment. "W-What?" Alex asked.

"Honey. I don't roll that way but it sounded even sexy to me," Kerry cackled, coughing breathing became painful.

" _Kerry_!" Alex scolded, throwing her straw wrapper back at her. She ducked her head, going back to her food, completely mortified with what happened. "S-Shut up."

"What?" Kerry asked. "I'm not the only one to think so."

It was Alex's turn to choke again. She coughed, clearing her throat, hand covering her mouth. Her face was extremely red. _Oh, this can't be happening!_ she thought. _Please don't have them say anything. Please don't let them say anything_.

"U-uh, birthday!" Don said suddenly. "When is your birthday?!"

"M-My b-birthday?" Alex asked, thinking that topic was even worse than the whole moaning situation. "Oh, you don't want to know that!" Alex said, trying to tell them the opposite of what they wanted.

"Actually I do," Kerry said. "I told you mine, you tell me yours."

"But I don't _like_ my birthday," Alex whined.

"You don't like your birthday?!" Mikey yelled. "What is wrong with you, woman."

"A lot of things," Alex said. "Like my strong dislike for pink, clowns and my birthday."

Raph chuckled next to her. "You don't like clowns?"

"No!" Alex said with a shiver. "They creep me out!"

"Like you should be talking, Raph," Mikey said. "You hate cockroaches."

"You don't like cockroaches?" Alex asked, a smirk on her lips.

"Really? Those itty bitty things?" Kerry asked with a smile.

"Like you should be talking, Kerry," Alex said, referring to Kerry's fear of maggots. "I'm not even going to mention _your_ fear. You'd get up and go wash your hands just hearing it!"

"Don't say the M word!" Kerry screeched suddenly, hands clamped over her heart. Raph swore and leaned away from her.

"You're a fucking banshee!"

"What is it?" Mikey asked.

"No, we shall not speak of it," Alex said. "I'll tell you later when she's not around. That way she doesn't have to get up and scrub her hands raw."

"Is it really that bad?" Leo asked, raising an eyebrow watching Kerry as she sang to her self, hands over her ears. Don was trying to calm her down but she was having none of it.

"Leo, hon, trust me on this one," Alex insisted, finishing off her burger.

"Is it Mikey?" Raph asked with a chuckled. "Mikey's an M word."

"Hey!" Mikey pouted a bit.

"Mikey's too cute to be scary," Alex said. "He's more of the type to get you to love him to death."

"Hush now baby," Kerry cooed to Mikey stroking his blonde curls. "Don't let the big mean neanderthal bug you."

"Hick," Raph shot back.

"Dick," Kerry said without thinking about it as she comforted the baby brother, much to Don's annoyance.

"See, the ladies love me," Mikey said with a triumphant smile.

"Yes we do," Alex said. "You're our favorite."

"Yes!"

"What!?" Don asked.

"Oh, come on!" Raph complained.

"Seriously?" Leo added.

"What?" Kerry asked. "He's the baby. We have to love him the most."

"It's an unspoken rule of the girl code," Alex joked.

"Fine, to make up for this utter heartbreak," Leo said feining pain in his chest. "Tell us your birthday."

"What? No!" Alex protested.

"Come on, Alex!" Mikey pressed. "It's just your birthday!"

"What's the problem with your birthday anyway?" Raph asked.

"I-I don't like it when people fuss over me," she stated. "It's just a day. Like any other. I survive every day. What's so special about that one date?"

"It's a day where we can celebrate knowing you. Without you I have no idea where I'd be," Kerry murmured looking down at the table sadly. Mikey pulled her closer and they hunched together, discussing something seriously before they looked up.

"Alex," Kerry stated before her lip jutted out and her green eyes filled with tears. "Please?" she asked in a whimper.

"Yeah, Alex," Mikey said and had an even more pitiful look on his face, emphasised by his angel looks.

"Think of it more for us than for you," Raph said. "You like making people happy? Tell us what it is."

 _Oh, he has a point there,_ Alex thought. _But why does he have to have a point? It's not fair! I don't like my birthday!_ Alex sighed, shoulders slumped. _I was two weeks short of getting away without them knowing! Uh!_ "October 17," Alex stated.

"That's right before ours!" Mikey said excitedly.

Alex groaned into her drink, annoyed that they got it out of her. _Mean friends,_ she thought.

"Alexandra" Kerry snapped. "How could you not tell me! There is so much to be done." she murmured. "Now I have to plan for two surprises!"

"Two?" Leo asked.

"Yes something for you guys as well!" Kerry nodded causing the boys to look at her in shock. "What? I have to do this! It's my duty as a friend!"

"No!" Alex yelled. "You will do no such thing!"

"Woman, I do what I want!" Kerry said throwing her hands in the air.

"Kerry, I'm begging you hear. I don't like birthdays. I never have. I don't want _anything_ done."

"It won't be anything big." Kerry said. "But you and the guys are going to get something!"

"It's bad enough Freddy always makes me go out to dinner on my birthday! Even my family doesn't do that!" Alex complained.

"B-But," Kerry's eyes went puppy dog mode again. "I don't get to celebrate birthdays often,"

 _Gah she's pulling that card again! No! So not fair!_ "Kerry, please. For my birthday present, _don't_ do anything! That's all I want."

"What if I do something for all of you at once? You know, do a group thing?" Kerry asked, looking around the table.

"Right! That's brilliant, Kerry! Then it won't just be you," Don said. "You don't have to think of it as your party. Think of it as ours!"

Kerry blushed when Don called her idea brilliant. "Thanks Donnie." she smiled a bit, unable to resist touching his hand briefly. "And it will be fun to do something in a group!

"Like go bowling!" Mikey said. "I've never been bowling before."

"Really?" Alex asked. "You've never gone bowling?"

"See!" Kerry said. "We must take them bowling!" She grinned in triumph.

Alex was more distracted about the fact that they had never been bowling than the fact that it was supposed to be for their birthdays now. "Oh, you guys would _love_ bowling! It's so much fun!"

"Uh, yeah," Don smiled. "Yeah, let's all go bowling then!" he said looking to his brothers.

"Heck yes!" Mikey said.

"I'm all for it if Master Splinter is," Leo smiled.

"I'm game. Probably going to kick all of your asses." Raph smirked.

"Oh, you're on, Raphie," Alex said. "You're going down. I bowl a 220!"

"It's a date!" Kerry said in conclusion.

"Oh, it's on like Donkey Kong!" Alex exclaimed. It was then that she noticed that time. "Oh, crap!" she exclaimed. "I have to go. I'm supposed to talk to my brother tonight."

"Don't your brothers live at home?" Kerry asked.

"Yeah, but Elliot's studying in Japan," Alex said, paying for her bill. "So I've gotta go before it gets too late to talk."

Without waiting for Raph to get out of the booth, Alex moved over him, brushing up against him, making him blush and look away in embarrassment. "Night guys!" she called out to them.

"Bitch you ditching me again?!" Kerry yelled out after her.

"Yup!" she yelled. "I'll see you at school tomorrow! You guys too! I'll see you during tutoring!"

With that, Alex left completely forgetting her agreement about not going out alone. She was fine though. It was only a couple blocks from her house. Alex called her brother on her way home, telling him all about how excited she was to go bowling for her and her friends birthday, which was a first.


End file.
